£6.8m facelift will make area ‘pedestrian-friendly’
STREETS around Rochdale Road are set to get new trees, benches, a park and play area, pedestrian crossings, re-surfacing and 20mph zones as part of a massive facelift.
Town hall bosses are hoping a wave of new housing will be built over the next 20 years in the New Cross area – bounded by Swan Street, Rochdale Road, Thompson Street and Oldham Road – so have drawn up plans to make the postindustrial district more pedestrianfriendly.
Officials have compiled a £6.8m list of improvements, much of which is expected to be funded by private developers as part of future planning applications.
Their investigations found ‘most’ of the walkways in New Cross needed resurfacing, highlighting cracked and damaged tarmac on Rochdale Road and Addington Street in particular.
Meanwhile a new pedestrian crossing has been recommended for Swan Street at its junction with Eagle Street in an attempt to cut accidents, as well as more crossings on Addington Street.
New bins, benches, bollards and cycle stands are also proposed for Swan Street.
A huge tree-planting programme – costing around £750,000 – would see new greenery along the main traffic routes in particular, but also the area’s network of smaller sidestreets.
On Goulden Street, a smaller back-street that runs between Rochdale Road and Oldham Road, officials suggest both a new park and a play area.
Pavements there would also be widened in anticipation of new bars and restaurants eventually opening as flats are built. Part of Goulden Street would also be closed off to traffic, potentially creating a pedestrianised zone at its junction with Cross Keys Street.
The plans – which go before councillors next week – also propose making all side-streets in the area 20mph zones, aside from a handful that would be closed to traffic altogether. A new hard-landscaped public space is also planned for the corner of Swan Street and Oldham Road, next to the existing bank.
New Cross is one of the council’s regeneration priorities, seen as potentially a more ‘mature’ Northern Quarter for 20 and 30-something professionals.
Council bosses are due to discuss the plans next Wednesday.