A NEW layout for Civic Drive is set to improve police access and make crossing more pleasant for pedestrians.Traffic lights and crossings are being introduced, meaning you will no longer have to suffer the subway to cross the road.

A NEW layout for Civic Drive is set to improve police access and make crossing more pleasant for pedestrians.

Traffic lights and crossings are being introduced, meaning you will no longer have to suffer the subway to cross the road.

And part of the central reservation is being demolished to allow police cars to cut straight across the road from Ipswich Police Station.

Police cars will then be able to speed north, instead of using the roundabout to change carriageways.

In emergencies, police will also be able to control traffic with a new remote-control system for the lights.

Wheelchair users and pram-pushing mums will also benefit. A new ramp is being built to allow access to the crossings from Great Gipping street.

The crossings will be built on the new Toucan system which allows access to cyclists as well as people on foot.

A spokesman for Ipswich Borough Council explained the system was all part of a radical overhaul for the traffic system in the town centre.

The town's one-way system is being changed to an anti-clockwise direction, which would have restricted north-bound emergency calls for the police.

At present, cars heading north from Ipswich Police Station would turn left into Elm Street and then left again into Museum Street.

But the new system will mean Museum Street will be right-turn only.

He said work should be completed by the end of July and promised minimal disruption for the motorist.