© 2025 - St Ives Town Deal
LATEST PROJECT NEWS
New road layout to be trialled in St Ives
Changes to the current road layout on Tregenna Hill in the centre of St Ives are to be trialled from 17 November.
From Monday, 17 November only buses, cyclists and emergency services (including lifeboat crews on active duty) will be permitted to drive northbound down Tregenna Hill from The Terrace. All traffic will still be able to drive southbound up Tregenna Hill.
You can watch a short video about the trial here
The general removal of northbound traffic down Tregenna Hill will reduce the current delays, impact and congestion created by vehicles having to navigate past each other in a highly constrained space. The changes will also make it easier for buses, lorries and other large vehicles to get around the narrow points and corners along the route.
There are currently numerous daily conflicts between vehicles and pedestrians using this stretch of road. Previous community consultations have identified this area as one of the main highway concerns for the local community, but it is also one of the more complex environments to implement an effective solution.
Following significant appraisal, technical assessment and broad engagement, a new road layout has now been designed.
The aim of the trial, which will be implemented via an ‘Experimental Traffic Regulation Order’ (ETRO), is to improve traffic flow and reduce these daily conflicts.
While the trial alone is unlikely to reduce the overall amount of traffic at Library Corner, ensuring that general traffic will only be flowing in one direction will significantly reduce the opportunity for conflicts to occur. This will create a more controlled environment and provide a safer space for all users in and around Library Corner.
The changes will also support the broader aims of the Town Deal Transport Strategy and the creation of a Low Traffic Environment in the town centre.
New signs will be installed at key roads and junctions informing drivers of the changes and new restrictions and providing details of alternative routes into and out of St Ives. During at least the first week of the trial, traffic marshals will also be in place at key locations to help support drivers who may be unaware or unsure of the change.
Other measures being introduced as part of this trial include making Albert Road one-way inbound, improving the flow of traffic and reducing traffic congestion and delays, introducing an entry restriction on the western end of Dove Street and a mandatory left turn at Street-an-pol. There will also be no right turn at the bottom of Bedford Road.
The direction of the existing one-way at Park Avenue will also be reversed, allowing inbound traffic only towards Bullans Lane and the Doctors surgery. This will help to keep traffic moving along this route, reducing the numbers of queuing stationary vehicles.
This change is intended to deliver several specific benefits for residents of Park Avenue including:
The change to the traffic flow along Park Avenue will also help to reduce a potential network pressure up over the Burrows to the Stennack, past Trenwith Car Park and Leisure Centre, as a consequence of the proposed trial changes.
By providing a route for local traffic, the reversal will help maintain a balance of vehicles on the road network in this part of the town. This will be closely monitored throughout the trial.
The use of an ETRO means that Cornwall Council as Highways Authority can make modifications throughout the trial period, responding agilely to specific issues or concerns that are observed.
This will provide a greater chance for success, with both community feedback and engineer analysis shaping the ultimate decision making as to whether the trialled changes are made permanent or not.
A specific Tregenna Hill ETRO webpage is being set up on Let’s Talk Cornwall to provide information about the trial and enable people to raise feedback throughout the trial period. This will go live at the launch of the trial on 17 November. Regular updates will be posted throughout the trial.
The project team will be encouraging feedback from all sectors of the local community, as well as visitors to the town, during the trial to enable the performance of the scheme to be fully determined. This feedback, along with active monitoring by transport engineers, will be used to shape the decision on a permanent scheme.
The ETRO has been developed by Cornwall Council in partnership with St Ives Town Deal Board, with technical expertise provided by Cormac. Engagement with key stakeholders, including St Ives Town Council, transport operators and providers and emergency services, has influenced the development of the new road layout which is now being trialled.
The trial is being funded through the St Ives Low Carbon Transport Strategy and will remain in place for at least six months but could extend up to 18 months before a final decision is made.
Update on Malakoff
Work on the final phase of the scheme to improve the Malakoff open space in St Ives began in October.
The first phase, which included the creation of a new bus layby and footway was completed earlier this year. Repairs have also been carried out on the car park steps and nearby parapet wall which were damaged by vehicle collisions.
Since then the project team have been working with stakeholders and the local community to finalise the designs for the second phase of the scheme which will include the provision of a new bus shelter, seating, paving and landscaping.
Following approval of the designs by the Town Deal Board and St Ives Town Council, work began on delivering this final phase of the improvements on Monday, 6 October. Construction is expected to take up to six months to complete.
The first stage, which is being carried out between October and Christmas, will see work taking place to clear the site and install new drainage and structural foundations.
A new bespoke bus shelter will then be constructed, together with new granite paving, bespoke granite planters and benches, new street furniture, a new millwheel feature and lighting.
Once the iconic sculpture Epidauros II by Dame Barbara Hepworth, which was temporarily relocated to the Penwith Gallery during the works, has been returned to its rightful home at the Malakoff, the area will be fully resurfaced.
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The Malakoff scheme is being funded by the St Ives Low Carbon Transport Strategy which aims to reduce the impact of vehicles on St Ives and introduce measures that encourage walking, cycling and the use of public transport. It is being delivered by Cornwall Council in partnership with the St Ives Town Deal Board.
Update on Tempest and Higher Stennack schemes
Plans to provide new signs and landscaping around Tempest Roundabout near Lelant and improve the area at Higher Stennack to make it safer for pedestrians to cross the road have been finalised following consultations with the local community.
Following improvements to the Park & Ride at St Erth, the existing signage at the Tempest Roundabout is now out of date.
The scheme includes the renewal of road markings and removal of the outdated signs. These will be replaced by new signs directing drivers to St Ives via the B3311 and towards St Erth Park and Ride instead of Lelant Saltings Station.
These changes will support the wider traffic management strategy which is being developed for the town and help ease the pressure on the wider local road network at peak times.
New plants will also be added to the flowerbeds and grassy areas around the roundabout.
The improvements at Higher Stennack include the installation of an informal crossing point between the mini-roundabouts, providing a new seating and cycle parking area and replacing one set of speed cushions with a flat top hump to make it easier to cross the road at this point.
The scheme also involves moving two streetlights to ensure signs are visible and open up more space for pedestrians, replacing the paving at crossing points with dropped kerbs and installing correctly aligned tactile paving. These changes will help people with visual impairments and make it easier and safer for those with pushchairs or in wheelchairs to cross the road.
Plans are being developed to update signs in the area as part of a wider sign strategy for the town. This will be published for consultation later this year as part of an experimental traffic order (ETRO).
Work is also progressing well on developing the other schemes within the Low Carbon Transport Strategy.
Following the completion of the Terrace scheme, the improvements to Consols junction and the first phase of the Malakoff open space scheme, work has now been completed on delivering the scheme to reduce traffic speeds and improve pedestrian safety at Halsetown.
The final stage of the Halsetown scheme – the resurfacing of Laity Lane – will take place this autumn. .
Plans are also being finalised for the scheme to improve the management of traffic at Tregenna Hill and Library Corner. The scheme, which will be trialled using an Experimental Traffic Regulation Order (ETRO), is currently due to be introduced in November. .
The prioritisation of the ETRO scheme has altered the original programme, moving any plans for change to the town’s car parks to at least April 2026.
The amended proposals for the car parks are expected to be shared with existing permit holders by the end of the year.
The scheme is being funded by the St Ives Low Carbon Transport Strategy which aims to reduce the impact of vehicles on St Ives and introduce measures that encourage walking, cycling and the use of public transport. It is being delivered by Cornwall Council in partnership with the St Ives Town Deal Board.
ABOUT ST IVES TOWN DEAL LOW CARBON TRANSPORT STRATEGY
The St Ives Low Carbon Transport Strategy is being funded and delivered as part of the St Ives Town Deal programme to help reduce the impact of vehicles on St Ives and introduce measures that encourage walking, cycling and the use of public transport.
The project has been allocated £5.5 million of Town Deal funding to create a Low Transport Environment (LTE) within the town centre by reducing traffic, enhancing safety, increasing accessibility, improving environmental health and delivering community and economic benefits. This funding needs to be spent by March 2026. Longer term measures will need to be funded from other sources.
One of the nine Town Deal projects being funded and delivered as part of the St Ives Town Deal programme, the aim of the Low Carbon Transport Strategy is to help reduce the impact of vehicles on St Ives and introduce measures that encourage walking, cycling and the use of public transport.
These include proposals aimed at reducing traffic congestion and parking demand in the town centre, enhancing public transport options and accessibility, improving air quality and health outcomes for residents and visitors and supporting local businesses by creating a more attractive and vibrant town.
You can view details of the original draft Strategy here
You can view a short video about the Strategy
Town Deal Board meeting on 13 May 2024
Members of the meeting of the Town Deal Board supported a recommendation from Cornwall Council’s Highways Authority to remove the use of automatic bollards from the plans to create a Low Traffic Environment in St Ives.
The Highway Authority’s recommendation not to use physical measures such as rising bollards and barriers to restrict access to the town centre in peak seasonal periods followed an assessment of the complex technical challenges and management arrangements of installing and operating such a system in St Ives. There were also concerns from some local residents over the potential impact of the proposal. This recommendation was previously supported by the transport working group and St Ives Town Council.
Work on implementing the Low Traffic Environment is due to take place in 2025. Regulations restricting access for people without legitimate reasons from driving into the town centre during peak periods in the summer remain a key element of the scheme. However, the decision by the Town Deal Board to remove the use of physical restrictions means that the project team will work even more closely with local residents and businesses over the next few months to identify alternative methods of achieving the desired outcome.
As well as the use of clear and visible signage at key points, additional measures, including widening footways, enhancing crossings points, providing additional seating, and managing obstructive parking, will be used to make the town centre safer and more attractive for pedestrians and cyclists. There will also be improvements to public transport and other traffic management changes around the town. Access to those who need to enter will be maintained throughout.
Permanent traffic cameras are being installed throughout the town to provide information and robust live data on the levels and types of vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists entering the town centre. This information will be used to help the project team monitor the effectiveness and benefits of all the changes resulting from the implementation of the strategy. The data will also be used to identify where additional measures might be required in the future to help support or improve the LTE and wider traffic management.
The Board also agreed to allocate funding to support the installation of a new Variable Messaging Sign on the A30. The sign, which will be sited in advance of the St Erth roundabout, will provide up to date information on parking availability within the town and help to raise public awareness of the Park and Ride facility, with the aim of reducing the number of visitors entering the town centre in search of parking when none is available.
A recommendation from the Highways Authority to postpone implementing changes at Library Corner and Tregenna Hill, originally scheduled to take place in October 2025, until after all the other measures set out in the strategy have been introduced and the impact of these changes assessed, was also supported by the Board.
One of the key areas of congestion in St Ives, with the current two-way traffic system on Tregenna Hill leading to regular conflicts between vehicles and pedestrians, all partners agree that resolving this highly complex situation will play a major role in improving traffic flow within the town.
The proposal currently being developed includes the introduction of a one-way system, with general traffic only permitted to drive up Tregenna Hill. A “bus only system”, with a set of traffic lights at the top and the bottom of the hill, would be introduced to enable buses and emergency vehicles to travel against the one-way system, down the hill as required.
The Highways Authority and the project team are committed to carrying out improvements at Library Corner. However, members of the Board were told that for the proposed scheme to be both effective and safe, and prevent additional problems being created elsewhere on the local road network, they needed to ensure that all the other measures were working as expected to reduce the amount of traffic entering the area before the changes were implemented.
As it is likely this assessment can only be made once the other measures are in place, the board agreed to defer the introduction of the Library Corner / Tregenna Hill element until January 2027, with Cornwall Council ring fencing match funding of £500,000 allocated to deliver the scheme so it can be used at this time.
In the meantime, work will continue to develop the technical design of the one-way system so it is ready for construction once the performance of the other measures has been reviewed and the proposed scheme has been assessed as safe and effective.
The remaining projects in the strategy were supported by members of the St Ives Town Deal Board in February 2024, with work on projects in the first phase due to begin this Autumn (2024).
Measures being implemented in this first phase are likely to include improvements to the junctions at Malakoff, Zennor, Halsetown, and the Station car park. These focus on enhancing bus and train user experience, improving safety for pedestrians and cyclists, and achieving greater speed compliance.
Following concerns about the re-direction of more holiday and day visitor traffic into St Ives along the old coach road as a result of the wider signage being implemented, further work will be carried out to assess what measures can be introduced to mitigate the effect. These are likely to include speed reduction signs and other measures to improve overall safety and aim to compliment Cornwall Council’s ‘20’s plenty’ roll out.
Changes to the Terrace and Stennack junctions and adaptions to car parks in the town are due to begin in February 2025. Prior to any changes to key car parks, such as Barnoon and the Island, discussions will be held with existing permit users and the wider local community.
The remaining schemes include improvements to the junction at Higher Stennack (also due to take place in Autumn 2025) and changes to the Tempest roundabout and Park Avenue and Albert Road, due to be carried out in early 2026.
Discussions will be held with the local community in all these areas to provide information about the proposals and supporting mitigation measures, develop any additional measures required and to address any remaining concerns before work starts on implementing the schemes.
One of the key findings from the public consultation was the need for improvements to public transport, with calls for more reliable and frequent bus services, particularly at evening and weekends, improved signage at the bus and train stations and provide better and safer waiting areas at bus stops and improved information through the use of digital information boards.
The project team are working with bus and rail operators to identify improvements to public transport which can be delivered as part of the Town Deal project.
Updates on the progress being made in developing and implementing the Low Carbon Transport Strategy will continue to be published on the Let’s Talk Cornwall site (https://letstalk.cornwall.gov.uk/st-ives-town-deal-low-carbon-transport ) and the St Ives Town Deal website site ( https://www.stivestowndeal.org.uk/ and social media channels, and shared with the local media.
Members of the public can also sign up to the St Ives Town Deal newsletter via the Town Deal website.
Discussions are also continuing with stakeholders, community groups and individuals to provide information and discuss concerns as required.
Why is the Low Carbon Transport project needed ?
The resident population of around 11,000 in St Ives increases dramatically during the summer months when more than 500,000 day visitors and 220,000 staying tourists visit the town. Currently many opt to travel into the town by car, leading to significant congestion in the narrow streets around the town centre and harbour area.
With a combination of inadequate signage and mid guided Sat Nav directions, unsafe streets caused by poor or non-existent footpaths and buses, HGV and other vehicles mounting pavements, ad hoc parking causing bottle necks, insufficient parking for residents and a lack of facilities for walking and cycling resulting in conflict and confusion within the town centre and it is clear that action needs to be taken to improve the transport infrastructure in the town.
Allocated £5.5 million of Town Deal funding, the aim of the transport project is to create a Low-Traffic Environment (LTE) in the historic core of St Ives by:
The draft Strategy focuses on the following key areas:
Wider strategy – aimed at reducing congestion and promoting eco-friendly transport options, the proposals include providing park and ride services outside of the town or attraction to encourage visitors and commuters to continue their journey by bus, rail, or other modes of active travel such as walking or cycling. With St Erth park and ride now at full capacity, this includes developing additional park and ride facilities at Halsetown and Splattenridden, improving navigation and signage at the Lelant Road junction to reroute traffic, enhancing parking signs and signals to direct drivers to car parks and public transport options and improving rail, bus, cycle and walling networks and gateways.
Town wide strategy – the historic town centre was not designed to accommodate the current volume of people or traffic. This currently leads to significant congestion, particularly in the peak summer months or when deliveries are loaded or unloaded. Proposals are aimed at reducing the amount of traffic going into the town centre to park by improving signage to direct people to the right locations and car parks, as well as providing more cost effective parking for long stay visitors in car parks on the edge of the town. Other proposals include providing non motorised transport options, such as bike, e-bike and shuttle bus links, adjusting bus routes, and improving walking routes and footpaths.
Town Centre and Low Traffic Environment strategy – the proposed changes in the town centre aim to reduce traffic congestion and enhance public spaces. The plan includes removing ‘honey pot’ island parking, and converting it to permit-only to reduce traffic and redefining vehicular routes to alleviate congestion, especially around Library Corner where a one-way traffic system will be introduced around the Corner and up Tregenna Hill to streamline traffic flow, facilitate better movement, and allow for the expansion of footways, thereby improving the overall pedestrian experience in the area.
Short stay car parks in the town centre will be subject to shorter, more expensive tariffs, with some on street parking for short stay, disabled visitors, residents, and loading and unloading (with the use of permits and charging where required).
The team are also looking into the use of alternative methods to discourage people without legitimate reasons from driving into the town centre during certain periods.
Some specific changes have been identified for the Higher Stennack, the Terrace and the Malakoff areas. These include removing mini roundabouts and reconfiguring junctions, updating and providing new pedestrian crossings and bus shelters; reducing the size of the carriageway and expanding footway areas, providing new facilities for secure cycling parking and bike hire, reallocating road space to prioritize non motorised users, improving signage and redirecting traffic away from the town centre and beachfront. .
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