A Douglas councillor is calling for Lord Street to remain one way after the works have been completed.

The road has been one-way in a westerly direction from Parade Street roundabout to Ridgeway Street for several months while work is carried out on the corner of Market Hill and Duke Street.

Architect Andrew Bentley believes that change has been a success and should be permanent.

Mr Bentley told the Examiner it would cost little to implement and would help bring about cleaner air, a two-way cycle path that links Peel Road and the promenades and allow for more short-term parking.

He said it would benefit both pedestrians and businesses as well as improving the landscape with more plants and trees to break up the asphalt and concrete street.

The section of road has been one-way since September last year, at the same time as works on the promenade regeneration scheme.

Mr Bentley said it has been proved that ’there is no significant disruption to the traffic’ and could be a boost for businesses away from the traditional town centre.

He said: ’I’ve been speaking to businesses on the North Quay and it is fundamental that we try and reduce the barriers between the core retail area round M&S and North Quay and it would benefit the entire area between.’

Mr Bentley says his proposal links in with the Programme for Government and encourages residents to lead healthier lives and walk and cycle rather than drive.

He said: ’My proposal is that we take Lord Street and have one carriage way, then a two-way segregated cycle lane that could go as far as people wanted to take it.

’But ideally the dream would be to link the cycle lanes on Peel Road and the promenade and that way, we can create a cycle network for Douglas all the way from Union Mills to Summerland.’

In December last year, a DoI spokesman said that there were ’no plans to retain the one-way system in Lord Street beyond the construction works’.