Tindal Square, Chelmsford

Background

Tindal Square, 1793

Chelmsford City Council and Essex County Council are working together to deliver a new public square, at the top of the High Street outside Shire Hall.

Tindal Square and Shire Hall are at the historic and civic heart of the city but are currently separated from the High Street by a road.  As part of the plans, road traffic and street clutter will be removed, and a new paved public square will be created to extend pedestrian space from the High Street up to Shire Hall.

In 2017 we proposed closing Tindal Square to motorised traffic as part of the Chelmsford City Growth Package.

The plans - public realm

The main public realm elements of the scheme are:

• Creation of a high-quality public square that provides a destination space for arts, events and celebrations outside Shire Hall
• Replacement of all existing surfacing with new paving, including a radial design pattern extending from Shire Hall
• Existing street clutter to be removed and replaced with other co-ordinated street furniture, wayfinding signage and tree planting
• Improved pedestrian access for all to Shire Hall
• Two-way cycle lane between New Street and Market Road, with contrasting paving, to distinguish it from the pedestrian area
• Public seating within the new square outside Shire Hall
• Co-ordinated and well-managed seating area along the High Street (location to be determined as the design develops)
  

Traffic Regulation Orders

Last summer Essex County Council and Chelmsford City Council invited residents, visitors and businesses to complete an online questionnaire about plans to transform Tindal Square.

The six-week consultation ran between June and July 2019 and received 305 responses.

The majority of respondents were in favour of prioritising pedestrians at Tindal Square, with over half strongly supporting the plans to create a high-quality public space to complement Shire Hall.

As part of the scheme, we are planning to change access arrangements for vehicles along the High Street. These changes may impact you:

• For loading and unloading HGVs, access to Tindal Square and the High Street will be restricted to the hours between 6pm and 9am.
• All vehicles will now access the High Street from Baddow Road and exit via New Street.
• Traffic flowing through the High Street will be one-way northbound (Baddow Road to New Street).
• All vehicles will be prohibited from accessing Tindal Square and the High Street from Market Road and New Street.
• A 7.5 tonne environmental weight limit will be imposed on all vehicles travelling between Tindal Square and the High Street.
• Tindal Street will be one-way southbound for its entire length.

NEXT STEPS:

A consultation on the necessary Traffic Regulation Orders for the scheme was due to take place in spring 2020.

However, in light of the COVID-19 outbreak, it was decided that a full and fair consultation could not currently take place and it has been postponed until further notice.

The situation will be reassessed in early June.