Mexborough Town Centre Masterplan

Local residents, businesses and other stakeholders contributed to the development of a masterplan for Mexborough which highlighted a series of regeneration projects and initiatives which people would like to see implemented in the town centre.

The improvements identified for phase one aim to encourage more people to visit and spend time in the town centre and make it easier and safer to travel around on foot, by bike and public transport as well as by car.

The Mexborough masterplan identified a longlist of potential projects and initiatives to regenerate the town centre. It is not possible to deliver all the projects identified in the masterplan at this stage.

The projects selected for phase one are based on a range of criteria, including the cost of delivering them, where the money will bring the greatest benefit, the length of time it will take to deliver them and being able to meet the completion deadline required to be able to qualify for the funding.

The work to be undertaken in Mexborough includes:

• High quality paving, trees and landscaping along key streets, including High Street, Hope Street, Bank Street, and at the junction between Swinton Road and High Street.
• Street and shop frontage enhancements, upgraded CCTV and street lighting.
• More green and social spaces, including a new ‘pocket park’ with trees, planting and seating areas as well as landscaping at the site of the former flyover and the bus interchange.
• Reallocating space on part of the dual carriageway to provide a safer environment for pedestrians and cyclists, including upgrading the crossing facilities and adding trees and landscaping supporting a reduction in speeding and providing a safety buffer, widening the footway and adding a segregated bi-directional cycleway.
• Improving access into the town centre for vehicles including buses, by creating a new junction from Greens Way onto Station Road and Bank Street.
• Celebrating the town’s heritage and future with new public art.

The specific improvements identified for phase one aim to make it easier and safer for people to get into and travel around the town centre on foot, by bike and public transport as well as by car, and encourage more visitors into the town centre.

Traffic modelling has demonstrated that the scheme does not result in unacceptable congestion, and that it will also help to improve safety.

The modelling shows journeys into the town centre and the residential areas to the north and southeast become shorter, and in some cases quicker.

Vehicles travelling the full length of Greens Way experience only a slight increase in journey time of up to 30 seconds on average.

Vehicle speeds are reduced, helping to make Greens Way a safer road to travel along for all users, by between 5mph and 10 mph on average.

Traffic modelling provides a way to understand the impact of a potential highway infrastructure scheme on buses and general road traffic. It allows adjustments to be made in the design stage, where necessary.

Traffic modelling for this scheme was undertaken using the software Aimson Next.

The model included Greens Way, adjoining roads, the town centre network and surrounding residential streets.

All the proposed changes to the highway network were included in the modelling:

• the rerouting of buses and relocation of bus stops,
• the introduction of the new signalised junction with bus priority at the Greens Way / Station Road junction
• and the introduction of two new Toucan crossings on the approaches to Hartley Street roundabout and Adwick Road roundabout.

The model was calibrated to reflect typical traffic flows at weekday AM and PM peaks and the inter peak period, as well as queue lengths and journey times.

This was done to ensure there was an accurate representation of the network and driver behaviour. Whilst pedestrians were not included, observed data was used to replicate the number of times that pedestrian crossings get called, to account for the resulting delay to traffic.

This scheme has been developed from the Mexborough masterplan, a longlist of regeneration projects that residents, businesses and other stakeholders wanted to see implemented in Mexborough.

City of Doncaster Council has recently been successful in securing funding to deliver some of the regeneration projects, enabling them to now go ahead.

The approval and assurance processes which need to be followed with any scheme of this type are lengthy, and so there will be a period of time to wait between hearing about the scheme and any construction work starting. The amount of time varies, however indicative timelines suggest work should begin around January 2025.

More information will be shared before construction begins, and the construction will be done in stages to minimise the level of disruption as much as possible.

The scheme is being funded through two national government programmes: the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement programme operated by the Department of Transport and administered by South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority, and Levelling Up Fund Round 3 operated by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

The funding cannot be diverted to other uses. The specific projects and schemes that are included in the funding bids have been selected based on the cost of delivering them, the feasibility of delivering them in the required timeframe and where the investment will bring the most benefit to Mexborough.

Building owners and tenants of retail properties on High Street and York Square in Mexborough town centre will be able to apply for a grant of up to £10,000 towards visual improvements to shop frontages.
The grant does not need to be repaid and it can be spent on a wide range of improvements.

Council officers will be visiting retail properties on High Street and York Square to speak to building owners and tenants about the scheme, eligibility criteria and how to apply.
You can also contact Adrian Banks, Senior Project Manager at City of Doncaster Council by emailing: Adrian.Banks@doncaster.gov.uk for more information or support with an application.