Bank Street, Rawtenstall - Accessible and Vibrant Town Centre project

Overview

 Bank Street, Rawtenstall 

This project will include various improvements to streets and public spaces across Rawtenstall town centre, including Bank Street, Kay Street, Newchurch Road, and St. Mary’s Way. It aims to provide improved spaces for people to spend time in, to encourage more people to walk, cycle, wheel, and use public transport, and to create a more prosperous local economy.  

At the northern end of Bank Street, there will be an upgraded crossing on Newchurch Road, helping to improve access to and from the market and the wider town centre. The corner of Bank Street opposite the market will be refreshed with high quality pavement surfacing, new tree planting, and space for public seating where people can rest.  

Between Newchurch Road and St Mary’s Way, the road will be narrowed, and the pavements  will be made wider, increasing accessibility for all users, and creating space for businesses to use for outside dining or displays.  

A number of trees will be planted in the widened pavement on the south side of Bank Street between Kay Street and St Mary’s Way. High quality surfacing will be used on the pavements and for the spill-out space for businesses, including the re-use of existing York stone paving.  

Our original proposal included a reversal of the one way flow of traffic on Kay Street. In response to feedback we have received, we have updated the plans for Kay Street. Instead of reversing the one way along the entire length of Kay Street, we have listened to concerns and suggestions, and changed proposals to enable vehicle movement to meet the needs of people and businesses. Instead of having vehicles travel in one direction along the entire length of road, the updated proposal splits the one way into two sections which meet in the middle.  

At the top end of Kay Street, the direction of the one way will be reversed for a section of road from Bank Street down to Annie Street and Hamer Street. At the bottom of Kay Street (on the Bacup Road side), a northbound section of the one way will mainly stay in place up to Annie Street and Hamer Street, with a short section of two way traffic from Bacup Road remaining unchanged . These updated plans to split the one way incorporate the feedback received and will support traffic flow and car park access for the Post Office and bus station. 

Parking, blue badge, and loading bays will be positioned at selected locations on Bank Street for visitors to use and for deliveries to shops and businesses. Additional pedestrian crossings will be provided to make it safer for people to cross Bank Street and access shops and amenities on both sides of the street. Pedestrian crossings of side streets along Bank Street will also be raised to the same level as the footways to make it easier and safer to cross. On Kay Street, the electric vehicle charging points will remain, with a hackney carriage stand also relocated along the street.  

Improvements to St Mary’s Way are also proposed between Bank Street and Bacup Road. Outside the shops, pavements will be widened, with new green planted verges introduced to improve the street setting by separating people from the busy traffic. 

This image provides an illustration of some potential improvements for Bank Street, Rawtenstall.

The technical drawings for the proposed designs can be viewed here: 

Designs for Bank Street, Rawtenstall - Accessible and Vibrant Town Centre project