Princess Street will be pedestrianised and changes will be made to the traffic flow in Queen Street and Market Street as part of the £1.6 million City Centre Transport and Movement Project.
The aim of this work by Wolverhampton City Council is to improve pedestrian areas, particularly between the shopping areas and the bus and rail stations to support the wider Interchange plans, and reduce the volume of traffic passing through the core retail areas.
The changes will come into effect on 30 August and are as follows:
- Princess Street (Queen Street to Berry Street) - pedestrianised during peak shopping hours between 9.30am and 4pm, with access outside those times being for service vehicles only
- Queen Street - the current traffic flow will be reversed, meaning traffic will no longer be able to travel up Queen Street in the direction of Market Street and Princess Street
- Market Street will become one way travelling from Bilston Street up to Queen Street
- Berry Street - all parking bays will be removed to ensure the efficient flow of traffic
The implementation of the traffic changes has been timed to coincide with the changes to the bus timetables and minimise disruption to the public.
Full information on the revised bus timetables will be published by Centro in the coming days.
Enhancements to Queen Street, including wider pavements and new seating, have already been completed as part of this scheme.
There will be some road closures on Saturday (30 August) affecting Market Street, Princess Street and Queen Street whilst the initial works take place, however access for servicing local businesses will be maintained. By Sunday the new directions of flow will be in place and then the enhancement works will commence.
Earlier this year, the council announced it was to deliver this programme in phases rather than investing the full £5 million as originally planned to support regeneration as it happens and ease pressure on reduced local authority budgets.
Councillor John Reynolds, Wolverhampton City Council's Cabinet Member for City Services, said: "We are seeing significant developments taking place in the city centre and these works will particularly support our plans for the Interchange.
"The primary aim of pedestrianising key areas in the city centre is to make it more accessible for shoppers and visitors while reducing the level of traffic travelling through the city centre to encourage more people to visit Wolverhampton.
"These works will see improvements to key walking routes between the bus and rail stations, as well as the main shopping area and visitor attractions.
"Work is due to start on the new Interchange 10 office and retail development, situated next to the bus station, and we remain committed to developing a new railway station, refurbishing the car park and extending the Metro.
"Delivering this programme will help ensure that we get the infrastructure right to support all these developments."
- released: Monday 18 August, 2014