Town Infrastructure -Transport and access should be good

Good transport arrangements are important for many reasons including; mobility within the town (remembering that pedestrians are the most important element), access to the countryside and water for recreational reasons, contact with other parts of the greater Glasgow conurbation and success as a revived tourist centre.
Adequate quantities of cheap or free parking in or close to the Town Centre is essential.

INITIATIVES

• Adjust the road expenditure allocation formula to be fairer to places like Helensburgh where heavy use rather than length of road is a cause of disrepair.
• Incorporate improved car parking with any developments (e.g. beside the pier) to serve both residents and visitors. The most obvious site for a multi-storey car park is the gas works. Increased roadside car parking through creation of a one-way system and park-and-ride. Also under-building car parking and/or a multi-storey car park on the pier site could be considered.
• Improve in-town pavements and pathways. qw
• Improve traffic calming in Helensburgh’s housing estates e.g. on Winston Rd north of Churchill Square. Pedestrian crossings in specific locations would help, especially outside the supermarket.
• Support the implementation of the plans for countryside paths drawn up by (and partly implemented by) the Helensburgh and District Access Forum in conjunction with Lower Clyde Greenspace. (See the Tourism Strategy above.)
• Cycle routes both within and to/from the town to be developed and completed.
• Improvement to the rail system would make Helensburgh more attractive to residents and visitors, including :
  
  – shifting the central station eastwards
  – cleaning up the track and its surrounds
  – avoiding unsightly industrial development in the land on either side of the track
  between Helensburgh and Ardmore Point
  – creating rail-and-trail schemes: see Tourism Sub-Group paper
  - improving commuter car parking at Craigendoran station
  - recognition of the potential value of the West Highland Line for Helensburgh
  - a bus service between the upper part of Helensburgh and the town centre.
• Investigate possible extensions to current bus services.
• Provide parking facilities for visiting yachts.
  

N.B. In the document, Initiatives that can be achieved fairly quickly are marked “-qw” (quickwin)

"To turn the vision into reality is a very big job, but it is well worth doing. We need to stop the neglect of Helensburgh, turn it around and put it on the road to excellence."

The Helensburgh Vision Steering Group