Warwickshire News Mine

The entire development is to be completed by early December at the very latest.

Warwickshire County Council gained planning permission earlier this month and a deal was signed last week with contractor McVeigh Construction Ltd.

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.

Today’s start on phase one of the works are to fence off the site, and clear it ready for the works.

Phase 2 of the works are to allow for an archaeological investigation of the site. This is scheduled to take ten weeks, but depending on findings could be finished sooner.

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.

Phase three of the works is the completion of the Warwick Bus Station, building the new paved area, roads, and installing lighting, shelter, signs and plants.

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.

Coinciding with the works on the bus station is the introduction of Warwick’s new Variable Messaging Sign (VMS) Scheme. This 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.

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.”

Link to WCC