Warwickshire News Mine

Warwickshire County Council gained planning permission earlier this month and today a deal has been signed with contractor McVeigh Construction Ltd, with the works scheduled to get underway on Monday, June 9.

The new bus station, also described as the Warwick Transport Interchange, will be built on West Gate Car Park in Warwick town centre, and will mean that buses no longer have to do a loop through the town.

A consultation in the spring of last year saw proposals for the bus station win huge support in the local community, driving the plans forward.

Hundreds of people visited the mobile exhibition, giving members of the public the chance to comment on the proposed new Warwick Bus Station.

Under an agreement with Warwick District Council over the use of the West Gate Car Park land to locate the Warwick Bus Station, it is a condition that a Variable Messaging Sign (VMS) Scheme will be installed.

This VMS scheme is similar to the one operating in Stratford upon Avon where electronic message boards announce to drivers how many spaces are available in town centre car parks. In total four VMS signs will be erected on roads leading into the town centre.

The aim is to guide motorists heading into Warwick and Leamington with the new hi-tech traffic signs to the most convenient off-street parking space.  Building on existing technology, the new equipment will provide drivers visiting both town centres with up to the minute information on where they can find a car park space. This will make finding a suitable off-street parking space easy as well as reducing congestion on the roads and reducing journey times.

Also, as part of the planning consent, an archaeological investigation of the site will get underway in the next few weeks following the initial site clearance. This is expected to take about ten weeks, but this could be extended or shortened depending on findings.

Excavations in the 1960s and 1970s recorded Neolithic period (4000-2400 BC) pits and pottery and flint tools across the area. The pottery is some of the earliest known in the Midlands, making this potentially one of the most important early prehistoric sites in the region. The site also lies within the Anglo-Saxon and medieval town of Warwick. The line of the medieval town wall and ditch runs across its western edge and it straddles the former line of Market Street, one of the original streets within the wall, which was diverted in the 1970s. The street would have been lined with houses with gardens and yards behind. The stripping of the site will be monitored by the archaeologists and then any remains revealed will be excavated.

During construction of the transport interchange, the existing bus stops in Market Street and Puckering’s Lane will be out of use.

They will be replaced by temporary bus stops. For anyone travelling towards Woodloes, Leamington, Kenilworth, Coventry or Solihull, the bus stop will be located on Bowling Green Street almost directly opposite Market Street.

For anyone travelling towards Wellesbourne, Stratford, Hampton Magna or Hatton Park, the bus stop is located in Theatre Street almost opposite the junction with Cocksparrow Street near the foot of the steps leading down from Market Square. This is the same bus stop which is utilised when The Mop Festival was being held at the Westgate Car Park. 

Details of the temporary bus stop arrangements will also be placed on buses serving Warwick, inside existing bus shelters in Market Street and Puckering’s Lane prior to the start of construction, and on the county council’s website.

Cllr Martin Heatley, Warwickshire County Council’s Portfolio Holder for the Environment, said: “This new development will bring tremendous environmental benefits to Warwick in getting buses out of the immediate town centre.

“The siting of the new bus station will make bus travel easier, and therefore provide a more attractive alternative to the car. It will also provide a more comfortable interchange for passengers and improve the efficiency of the bus operations in the town centre.”

For more information on the plans visit http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/warwickbusstation

Link to WCC