A HUGE number of people have had their say on how a busy Poole commercial road could be improved.

More than 1,300 people gave their opinions on how travel and the local environment of Ashley Road, Parkstone could be enhanced as part of the Three Towns Travel project.

This is the first stage of Borough of Poole’s public engagement process to decide how £1million could be spent in the area. Funding has been allocated by the council from the £12.1m Three Towns Travel project for travel options between Poole, Bournemouth and Christchurch.

A total of 413 people took part in face-to-face interviews on Ashley Road and a further 890 people responded to the survey. Of those who replied to the survey, 90 per cent were residents of Poole.

Among those consulted were John and Irene Cooper of Churchill Road who said: “If Poole council can turn the dominance of vehicles over pedestrians to residents and pedestrians first then they will be doing a great service to this area.”

The road, which failed a pollution test for nitrogen dioxide levels due to traffic congestion, had an Air Quality Management Area extended in January to under half-a-mile of its 1.2 mile length.

Cllr Xena Dion, cabinet portfolio for a prosperous and sustainable Poole said: “We had a tremendous response to this first engagement and we would like to thank local people for engaging with us and for providing a wide variety of views.

“It is important that we continue to build on this momentum so local people will have a further opportunity to have their say as travel options for Ashley Road are developed.”

The public engagement period ran from April 10 to May 10 and travel improvements to the road were themed around improvements for buses, cyclists, pedestrians, vehicles and the local environment.

Once the priorities have been established from this consultation, options for improvements will be drawn up for consideration. Further public consultation will take place in the summer, with work likely to start later this year for completion by spring 2015