SYSTRA to Develop New Long-Term Transport Strategy for Worcester City Centre

The project will build upon the 2019 City Centre Masterplan which SYSTRA also helped to develop and will set out a framework to support the movement of people and goods around the city centre in as sustainable and efficient a way as possible, whilst respecting the importance of the city’s existing character, addressing environmental impacts and supporting the economic development of the city centre.

Three interrelated workstreams will examine:

• how traffic moves around the city centre, and the resulting impacts on congestion and visitor experience;
• parking provision and consideration of how this can be optimised to support the sustainability of the high street and the vibrancy of retail centres; and
• how residents, workers and visitors arrive in, perceive, and move around the city centre, developing options to encourage sustainable movement and create a sense of place.

The outputs of these workstreams will be brought together to create a Transport Strategy and Action Plan that will include an ambitious package of measures to be taken forward over the next 20 years. Stakeholder engagement will be a key part of this, and SYSTRA will be inviting the views of the public through an online survey, as well as engaging closely with elected members and key stakeholders throughout the process.

Darren Kirkman, SYSTRA’s Project Manager for the study said “The Masterplan sets out an ambitious blueprint for a package of measures which will improve the public realm and transform Worcester city centre. SYSTRA is excited to be carrying out this study which will identify how transport can support that vision, help people move around the city centre better, and encourage them to do so sustainably”.

The study will report early in 2022.