Work underway in Stratford
A key part of the World Class Stratford development gets underway from the 15th March in Southern Lane and Waterside.
Running alongside the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and the Bancroft Gardens down to Old Town, Waterside and Southern Lane is one of the busiest areas in Stratford-upon-Avon.
Much of the funding for this project has come from Advantage West Midlands. Philip Roberts said: “The commencement of this project marks the final stage in the completion of improvements to the Waterside area, which together will provide greatly improved public spaces for the benefit of residents and visitors alike. These improvements will also help to provide an appropriate setting for the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and Swan Theatre, in which significant public money is being invested. We look forward to seeing the end result of all these investments early next year.”
Cllr Alan Cockburn, Warwickshire County Council’s Portfolio Holder for the Environment, said: “As part of the World Class Stratford initiative, the opportunity has arisen to explore whether aspects like safety, congestion, economic vitality and movement networks can be tackled in Stratford’s streets and public spaces by designing and managing traffic to be fully integrated with people moving about on foot and cycling.
“This philosophy of shared spaces has been employed successfully in many European towns and is the subject of many positive worldwide debates on traffic management issues.”
Ahead of the works getting underway consultation took place with key stakeholders through the World Class Stratford Strategy Group and the Community Forum.
The main objectives of the scheme are to:
Create an environment where visitors and residents can readily wander without experiencing conflict with road traffic.
Create an area capable of responding to the needs of the evening economy and cafe culture activities; and make the river front and its surrounding environment an economic catalyst to the town.
Complement and bring added value to works currently underway to the Royal Shakespeare Company’s theatres and the recently completed Bancroft Gardens refurbishment.
Capitalise on and bring added value to the area’s historic and rich environment.
Specifically, the scheme proposals involve reducing the impact of traffic on pedestrians and the environment through a number of measures, including:
Re-allocation of road space in favour of pedestrians and cyclists
Introduction of one-way traffic flow running from Bridgefoot to Old Town
Introduction of a contra-flow cycle lane between Chapel Lane and Bridge Street junctions.
Parking spaces on Waterside removed and the creation of blue badge parking between Sheep Street and Chapel Lane. Widened footways
Lower speeds and enforcement through raised shared surfaces
Improved lighting and reintroduction of the international lamp columns.
Coach drop off bay
Works are getting underway on this project on Monday, March 15, and will run for 31 weeks.
The development is broken into three phases. The contractors, Morrison, will start on site on the 15th March and will start works to the road from the Bridge Street junction, to the bottom of Sheep Street from the 29th March for 11 weeks, the central section around the theatre during the following 10 weeks, and then the rest of Southern Lane during the final phase.
Access will available to businesses and homes at all times. It is possible that the road may have to be closed for a day to pour concrete, but apart from this, the works have been designed to keep the road open for the duration of the contract.
The Road Traffic Order making the traffic one-way from Bridge Street to Southern Lane will come into effect as the works start to the main part of the road.
More information on the works, including the plans and latest updates can be found at http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/waterside or http://www.worldclassstratford.net.
Cllr Cockburn added: “I am very grateful to the Business Improvement District office which is being very helpful with arranging meeting with local businesses and disseminating information through the Ambassadors.”