This is the public consultation page for Uplifting Main St. & Mitchell Way.
The Main St. & Mitchell Way Public Realm improvement project is being delivered on behalf of West Dunbartonshire Council. The project originates from the Council’s Alexandria Masterplan, which was developed in partnership with the community through consultation, and it has been a long-standing ambition to improve and revitalise this important thoroughfare.
We are working with the community to identify key challenges and opportunities for Alexandria Town Centre in an effort to foster a sense of pride and connection to the area, while enhancing users’ overall experience.
Our survey has now closed while we develop the proposals in more detail. We will update this website with new information as it is published.
The previous round of public consultation received over 190 responses, revealing a desire among locals for meaningful, lasting change rooted in identity and functionality for the community. This consultation was combined with school and community group workshops to make sure we captured the full town’s views.
While the previous consultation was focused more-so on Mitchell Way, the majority of the feedback was directed at the town centre in general, making the feedback still relevant for this evolution of the project.
We have highlighted below the key themes which came through from analysing the feedback. These have now gone on to influence the current design proposals which we will describe in more detail on this web-page.
There has been much change in Alexandria town centre over the last Alexandria 20 years. Our proposals take on-board consultation feedback from the public and stakeholders, attempting to offer solutions to better equip the town for the future, and making it a more pleasant place to dwell, shop and stay. We have also taken into consideration best practice place-making principles in line with Scottish government guidance and the National Planning Framework 4.
The current town centre has large car-parking provisions, with the most recent and largest addition opening at Lidl in summer 2025. Utilising these car parks better offers the opportunity to widen pavements and make Main St. a more pleasant retail street – something which was the key take-away from the consultation feedback. With the car-parks being better utilised, it will be more common to access to the town via the existing vennels, becoming an opportunity to improve the sense of arrival and place in these spaces.
Encouraging parking within these car-parks also makes the streets feel safer and less car dominant, leading to a more pleasant retail experience and increased footfall.
We have explored three layout options for Main St. which respond to the public consultation feedback. We have listed the pros / cons of each from the design team’s perspective.
Opting for a one-way solution, while quite a substantial change from the existing arrangement, offers the opportunity to respond to the majority of the community consultation feedback points.
This option offers wider, newly surfaced pavements, with them being wide enough in areas for spill out space which businesses could utilise and benefit from. The more frequently used North-bound bus stop is retained with a bus pull-in zone to reduce traffic disruption, while the south-bound bus stop is nearby on Bank St.
Utilising existing car-parking activates the vennels and reduces traffic on the street as per the overall strategy, while formal short-stay, loading and disabled bays are established for easy access to retail for those with mobility difficulties.
Parklets and rain-gardens between parking bays offer future-proof drainage and rest-spots, introduce natural traffic-calming, and offering the opportunity of a mid-Main St. crossing.
Questions regarding the quantity of traffic diverted through Bank Street, and the potential for south-bound traffic to go down adjacent residential streets have been raised. Traffic surveys have been undertaken to understand the impact, and further analysis would be required to pursue this option.
Retaining the existing two-way road layout while applying the publicly desired wider re-surfaced pavements to both sides of the street leads to a comfortable retail area. The reduced road width offers natural traffic-calming and safety for pedestrians.
The street is only wide enough for a bus pull-in zone on the North-bound route. The south-bound bus must use the carriage-way to stop. This does utilise the existing car-parks as-per the overall strategy, but limits the amount of disabled drop-off, short-stay parking and loading to two bays on the West of the street.
The wider pavements, while more comfortable, are not wide enough to offer permanent retail spill-out areas, or benefit from rain-gardens and parklets with rest spaces for those with poor mobility. These are recommended within Scottish Government guidance.
The optional pedestrian zone to the North diverts traffic around the fountain, connecting the pavement with the newly refurbished fountain and making a pleasant public square. Turning analysis for vehicles has been demonstrated in the engineer’s section of this report, showing this is a feasible arrangement. Further consultations would be required to ensure this section to the proposal would be entirely feasible.
Similar to Option 2, this option retains the existing two-way road layout while giving the desired wider and re-surfaced pavements to one side of the street, leading to a comfortable retail area on the East-side of the street. The reduced road width offers natural traffic-calming and safety for users.
The street is only wide enough for a bus pull-in zone on the North-bound route. The south-bound bus must use the carriage-way to stop. This does not utilise the existing car-parks as well as other options, having more short-stay parking and loading on the West of the street (approx 9 bays).
The wider pavement to the East, while more comfortable, are not wide enough to offer permanent retail spill-out, or benefit from rain-gardens and parklets with rest spaces for those with poor mobility, not meeting Scottish Government NPF4 guidance. It also raises questions over businesses on one side of the street benefitting more than the other. The street remains car-dominant and less ‘safe’ than other options.
With Main St. now being the primary retail zone for Alexandria, Mitchell Way is an important through route from public transport links and local super-markets. Being wide and fully pedestrianised, boasting beautiful views, and catching the sun, it has the opportunity to be a slower-paced area to dwell in – acting as a public square, which Alexandria does not have.
Taking a lighter-touch approach than on Main St., the proposals seek to improve poor areas of the existing surfaces, and install new lighting to make the street and vennel feel safer to use.
The existing signage is pleasant, and will be more impactful following a refurbishment and coloured paint. The central vennel is a prime location for improved paving and adding colour to references to the towns’ heritage. Elements of play, seating and greenery make the area more pleasant to spend time, meet and connect.
A key driver identified during the public consultation was the desire to give Alexandria a clear identity and enhance its character using the town’s rich heritage and culture. We believe the ideal area to do add this is at arrival points in the town centre, being identifiable and welcoming to visitors, and give a sense of pride for locals.
We have identified a number of key arrival routes and nodes based on our research. Our proposals reflects the strategy to better utilise the existing car-parks, promote active travel and public transport usage.
These nodes include:
– Each end of Main St. for car, public transport, and walking arrivals.
– The North end of Mitchell Way for train and bus users, and walking arrivals.
– Main St. and Mitchell Way Vennels.
– The connection between the Bank St. and the Main St. vennels for South-Bound bus arrivals.
We have prepared some conceptual proposals, which we will go through below.
The North end of Main St. already signals arrival in Alexandria with the Smollett Fountain asset and a small south-facing area with seating and planting opposite. The recent successful refurbishment of the Smollett fountain could further be celebrated by connecting it to Main St., creating a pedestrian zone with seating, greenery, and information about the fountain and the town’s history. Retailers could also utilise this as spill-out area, making the units nearby more attractive for potential local businesses.
For this intervention to progress, it will require rigorous testing to ensure it is functional as a junction for buses and HGV’s with wider turning circles, and does not cause any other disruptions.
The south of Main St. connects with Mitchell Way, and has recently been refurbished with new signage, paving and seating. This unfortunately runs parallel to the flow of traffic, making it less identifiable. The existing grey retail unit canopies offer an opportunity to add colour, making each unit more identifiable and brightening up the street. Greenery from the rain gardens soften the edge of the road and make it a more pleasant place to walk and shop.
There are several existing vennels on both Main St and Mitchell Way which can be better utilised to link the town to the existing car parks. Each of these vennels currently feel private, making visitors unaware of their usefulness.
Through the creative use of lighting and colour, these vennels could be made to feel more public and inviting.
Rather than naming and sign-posting each vennel, giving each an identifiable colour which references the towns heritage is effective, helping users orientate themselves.
“Head down the red vennel from the car-park to meet me at the cafe”
The coloured floor could spill out into Main St., making the vennels feel more public and welcoming, while wall art and creative lighting could reference culture and heritage of the town. How each vennel is seen from approaching directions should be further analysed at the next stage, and proposals designed to best highlight them.
Frequently Asked Questions – Click Here
To get in touch, please email us at – alexandria@pagepark.co.uk