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Welwyn Garden City Town Centre

Howardsgate, Welwyn Garden City, Hertforshire, AL8 6AL

Access Guide

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Generic (Overview)

  • There are 4 main streets; Stonehills, Howardsgate, Frethern Road and Church Road in the town centre shopping area.
  • Howardsgate has two sides separated by a wide central garden area.
  • There are shops, cafe's, restaurants, public houses, bars, a shopping centre, a train station and bus station on these streets.

Getting Here

Generic (General Accessibility)

  • Parking
  • The roads are double yellow lined, except where there are defined single or multiple marked bays allocated for parking.
  • Parking in standard bays is for a maximum of 1 hour, with no return within 2 hours.
  • On-street Blue Badge bays are available in all roads, apart from Church Road.
  • The Blue Badge bays are single or for multiple cars and consequently measurements vary.
  • Parking in Blue Badge bays is for a maximum of 3 hours, with no return within 1 hour.
  • Blue Badge parking is for an unlimited time in the on-street standard bays.
  • Parking is free in both the on-street standard and Blue Badge bays within the time limits.
  • Paths and Pavements
  • Pavements are generally concrete paving slabs, the roads tarmac and road crossings block paving.
  • The paving is predominantly good but with some cracked or uneven slabs.
  • Mostly the paving has a camber towards the kerbside.
  • Both the East and West of Howardsgate are on a steep incline.
  • Church Road is on a lesser slope.
  • Stonehills and Frethern are generally flat.
  • Street Furniture
  • The street furniture on the pavements include concrete bollards, lamp posts, litter bins, advertising, directional and parking signs.

Generic (Stonehills)

  • Stonehills runs between Osbourne Way and Howardsgate and is approximately 150 metres in length.
  • The road is a dead end at Osbourne Way.
  • Vehicular access into Stonehills is from Howardsgate only. Pedestrians can access from either end.
  • There is on-street parking on both sides of Stonehills.
  • There is 1 Blue Badge bay along the road.
  • The Blue Badge bay has a size 640cm in length x 280cm wide.
  • The pavements are concrete paving stones.
  • There is an uncontrolled crossing with no audible or visual signals at the junction where Stonebank dissects Stonehills.
  • There is a slight slope at both crossing pavements, the slopes have tactile markings.
  • The crossing surface is block paved.
  • The general width of the pavements is over 150cm.
  • In addition to the usual street furniture, the east side pavement has bicycle stands and restaurant or café table and chairs.
  • There is an uncontrolled crossing with no audible or visual signals at the junction of Stonehills/Howardsgate/Fretherne Road.
  • The crossing is block paved with some uneven blocks and with sloping tactile pavements either side.

Access Guides Available For (Stonehills)

Generic (Howardsgate - Parkway to Stonehills)

  • Howardsgate runs between Parkway and the Stonehills/Fretherne Road junction and is approximately 200 metres in length.
  • It is one-way traffic from Parkway, east to west on a downhill slope.
  • The first marked bays at the top of Howardsgate are two electric charging and payment point bays.
  • These charging bays measure 190cm wide x 490cm in length.
  • There is on-street standard parking for 1 hour next to the kerb.
  • There is a Blue Badge bay for 2 cars halfway down this road.
  • The Blue Badge bay measures 200cm wide x 1035cm in length.
  • There is an uncontrolled crossing with no audible or visual signals approximately halfway down at the junction with Wigmores North.
  • This crosses Wigmores North and Howardsgate to the central gardens reservation leading to the west side of Howardsgate.
  • The sloping pavements are tactile with the crossing block paved.
  • Generally the concrete paved pavements are good and wide, typically 460cm, the narrowest point being 140cm.
  • In addition to the usual street furniture the west side pavement includes flower beds, trees, a telephone kiosk, tables and chairs.

Access Guides Available For (Howardsgate - Parkway to Stonehills)

Generic (Howardsgate - Parkway to Fretherne Road)

  • Howardsgate runs between Parkway and Fretherne Road and is approximately 200 metres in length.
  • It is one-way traffic from Fretherne Road, east to west on an uphill slope.
  • There is on-street parking.
  • Parking in standard bays is for a maximum of 1 hour, with no return within 1 hour.
  • There are 2 Blue Badge bays midway on this road.
  • The Blue Badge bays measure 200cm wide x 1350cm in length, accommodating 2/3 cars.
  • Parking in Blue Badge bays is for a maximum of 3 hours, with no return within 1 hour.
  • There are two pedestrian crossings with no audible or visual signals near each other midway on this road.
  • The crossings give access to the central reservation gardens area.
  • The crossings have a slight slope with tactile markings.
  • Generally, the concrete paved pavements are good and wide, typically 350cm, the narrowest point being 240cm.
  • In addition to the usual street furniture the west side pavement includes flower pots, and tables and chairs.

Access Guides Available For (Howardsgate - Parkway to Fretherne Road)

Generic (Fretherne Road)

  • Fretherne Road runs between Parkway and Church Road and is approximately 180 metres in length.
  • There is two-way traffic.
  • There is a taxi rank outside Welwyn Garden City Train Station and Howardsgate Shopping Centre.
  • There is on-street standard parking, with a maximum stay of 1 hour, with no return within 2 hours on the east side of the tarmacked road.
  • There is a Blue Badge bay midway on this road.
  • The Blue Badge bay measures 265cm wide x 680cm in length.
  • Parking in the Blue Badge bay is for a maximum of 3 hours, with no return within 1 hour.
  • There are uncontrolled crossings with no audible or visual signals at either end of the road and a midway crossing between Iceland and KFC.
  • The slightly sloping pavements are tactile with the crossings block paved.
  • The Church Road junction crossing has a level, tactile resting point halfway on the road.
  • Generally, the concrete paved pavements are good and wide sloping towards the kerb.
  • The narrowest point on the east side pavement is 190cm the west side is 230cm reducing to 150cm approaching Church Road.
  • In addition to the usual street furniture the west side pavement includes flower beds, and tables and chairs.

Access Guides Available For (Fretherne Road)

Generic (Church Road)

  • Church Road runs between Fretherne Road and Parkway on an uphill slope and is approximately 200 metres in length.
  • There is two-way traffic on this road.
  • The road has double yellow lines on both sides.
  • There are three car parks on this road: Sainsbury's Multi Storey Car Park, Euro Car Park and Britannia Car Park. There are 2 spaces in the exterior Sainsburys customer car park area with free parking for Blue badge holders.
  • There is a bus stop and a cycle store next to Sainsburys Multi Storey Car Park.
  • The bus stop serves bus routes 302 and 405 going to Welwyn Garden City Bus Station.
  • There is flagstone paving on both pavements in general good condition.
  • The south side pavement is predominantly 120cm between the hedge and the grass verge.
  • The north side pavement is predominantly 150cm but is 120cm at it's narrowest.
  • There are a number of unmarked, tactile, slightly sloped crossings to overcome the car parks and venue entrances.
  • There is a pedestrian traffic crossing with visual and audio signals near the top of Church Road.
  • This crossing is traffic light controlled with a push button 102cm from the ground.
  • There are tactile markings on the slightly sloped pavements leading to the tarmac road crossing.

Access Guides Available For (Church Road)