£8.7M PLAN TO END THE CITY’S GRIDLOCK GIVEN THE GO-AHEAD
Improvements to ease congestion at two city centre gateways
COUNCIL chiefs are set to give the green light to two major road projects costing £8.7 million.
The improvements to Bucknall New Road and Joiners Square roundabout - aimed at relieving the rush hour traffic jams commonly seen at both bottlenecks - have been delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Stoke-on-trent City Council is due to start work on the schemes before the end of the year, with the expected completion date pushed back from March to June 2021.
The delays have meant a change to the funding arrangements, with the city council now set to borrow £1.46 million which was originally due to come from Staffordshire and Stoke-on-trent Local Enterprise Partnership. This is on top of the £150,000 the authority had already committted.
The LEP’S contribution to the projects has now fallen from £8.6 millon to £7.1 million. This funding comes from the government’s Growth Deal and has to be spent by next March – a deadline which will now be missed.
But a report to cabinet explains that the LEP has agreed to reimburse the £1.46 million to the city council in future years.
The £5.8 million Bucknall New Road scheme will see the addition of a third lane on the approach to Potteries Way to reduce congestion, along with wider footpaths and cycle ways and a re-phasing of traffic lights. More controversially, it would also see the demolition of the existing footbridge over the road.
Joiners Square roundabout, meanwhile, would be remodelled and expanded to increase its capacity, in a £2.9 million scheme.
Cabinet members will approve the financial arrangements and give the go ahead for contractors to be appointed, and for land to be appropriated, when they meet next Tuesday – although the £1.46 million of new borrowing will need to be approved at full council.
Dan Jellyman, cabinet member for regeneration, infrastructure and heritage, said: “These important schemes will ease congestion and improve traffic flow at two key gateways to the city centre. They will reduce queue time, improve air quality and make it quicker to get from A to B in the city, which is good news for motorists, businesses and the economy. This investment in our infrastructure is vital as we power up the city and lay the foundations for the next 25 years.”
The city council carried out a public consultation on the Bucknall New Road scheme earlier this year, and received 19 responses, including six objections.
But according to the cabinet report, these objections ‘do not have sufficient merit to warrant any amendments to the existing scheme’.
Initial ground investigations have already been carried out at Joiners Square roundabout and the main work could start before the end of the year. Utility diversions at Bucknall New Road are expected to start before December, ahead of the main work.
LEP chairman Alun Rogers said: “Congestion in our towns and cities restricts growth and so we’re pleased to be able to fund major schemes like these. This will ease traffic flow in Stoke-on-trent which is hugely important to communities and business.
“It will make the city a more attractive place to live, work and invest. It is vital to the LEP and our partners that our major projects have been able to continue through the pandemic period and we look forward to both schemes getting under way.”