How city’s new bus interchange could look
THIS is what the bus interchange at Coventry’s new railway station could look like.
Planning permission has been approved by the council for a single storey bus interchange over the road from the station.
The new bus station will have six bays, and a new access road into the station will be made from a new junction off the existing Central Six access road.
Pedestrians getting off the buses will not have to cross the major road, as a subway to the main train station building will be built.
It will involve the construction of a new bus interchange and a new pedestrian access tunnel beneath Warwick Road.
The images show the bus interchange will be the same design as the new station building on the other side of the road.
The area used for the interchange will be the western side of the station, which is towards Central Six.
Cycle parking will also be available alongside the bus station.
The design and access statement for the new plan says the design of the new bus interchange reflects the appearance of the existing station through the use of large glazed elements, and canopies.
Back in July a report was prepared for the council’s Cabinet, which discussed the proposed changes.
It said “it has become apparent that construction costs under this programme are at risk of significant inflation driven by pressures in the rail sector”.
Changes will mean that 385 parking bays will be taken out of use during construction of the new bus interchange and car park.
It is proposed that a temporary car park, with 196 spaces, is made available to the south of Westminster Road, in order to reduce the costs that will need to be paid to Virgin Trains for the resulting loss of revenue.
More than £80million is being invested in transforming the station from the 1960s look it has now to modern facility.
Several buildings are to be constructed to form the wider masterplan. These include: A new building, providing a second station entrance at the western end of the station.
A multi-storey car park above and adjacent to the second entrance building. A new, fully enclosed and accessible, Equality Act 2010-compliant footbridge and extensions of canopies at the western end of the station.
An access tunnel beneath Warwick Road providing connectivity between the east and west of the site.
A new bus interchange, connected to the new entrance building by the pedestrian tunnel.
Highway modifications to improve access to the station and car parks. Enabling works, including demolition of buildings and construction of temporary car parking.
The major scheme will include creating a second footbridge to connect all four platforms and extend the platforms, a second entrance onto Warwick Road with step-free access to all platforms and a multistorey car park for 644 vehicles.
A bus interchange will also be built connected to the station building via a new access tunnel under Warwick Road.
A new platform will increase services to twice an hour between Nuneaton and Coventry, and road improvements will involve building a new road connecting Central Six Retail Park to the ring road and improvements to reduce congestion on Warwick Road.
The project is funded from a number of sources - £42.6million is already secure and the final £39.4m is expected to be approved by West Midlands Combined Authority in the next few weeks.
Construction work for Phase 1 began on site in 2015 with the demolition of The Rocket Public House and subsequently the construction of the access tunnel.
Works are scheduled to continue until 2020.