Castle Lane improvement begins
Improvement works to Castle Lane in Warwick began this week (January 17) as an important part of the Warwick Town Centre Forum’s objective to make Warwick‘s historic town centre safer and more pleasurable to live in, work in and visit.
The £200,000 work comprises of building new footpaths where none previously exist and widening inadequate ones. The road design will include informal crossing points and speed tables to create a much safer environment for pedestrians.
Some road closures will be necessary during the construction work, but diversions will be clearly marked and access for residents and businesses will be maintained.
Cllr Angela Warner commended the Warwick Town Forum for its development of the scheme in partnership with Warwickshire County Council: “It has been very gratifying to see how a resident-led project can be delivered and I am grateful for the help and time the Forum has committed in getting to this point. It is a great example of how the Big Society can work in practice.”
Walter Block, chair of the Forum’s Technical Group, said: “We have been working on the overall town centre traffic management scheme with residents, businesses, those involved with the tourist trade and the County Council since 2003. We are pleased to have reached the construction stage of a key part of the overall scheme.”
The significance of the partnership work was summed up by Phillipa Young, the County Council’s Project Team leader, who added: “The Forum is probably one of the most inclusive bodies I have ever worked with and I would cite it as an example of good practice for delivering a scheme on this scale. It has become very much a community-led project.”