Herefordshire Council puts £3m refurbishment of Broad Street on hold

1:11pm Tuesday 18th September 2012 in News By Lauren Rogers

THE planned £3 million refurbishment of Broad Street in Hereford has been put on hold.

Herefordshire Council today revealed it is putting the major upgrade on hold after listening to concerns from members of the public and traders.

Councillor Graham Powell, cabinet member for infrastructure, said it had become clear following consultation that "now is not the right time" for an overhaul of a city centre street,

Instead, the council will carry out a major expansion of city cycle networks - from extending the cycle network to Clehonger, providing a cycle route along Whitecross Road and Kings Acre Road and providing direct cycle access to the city centre from St Owen’s Street.

It has "reallocated" funding for the Broad Street development to pay for the pedestrian and cycling projects.

The funding comes from Destination Hereford: a wider programme funded by the Department of Transport which aims to reduce congestion, cut carbon transport use and boost sustainable growth.

  • Read more on this in Thursday's Hereford Times.

The planned overhaul of Broad Street was being designed by Ben Hamilton-Baillie, the architect behind the refurbishment of Widemarsh Street. 

He had drawn up an artist's impression of what the street might look like after its £3m overhaul.

 

Comments(16)

TwoWheelsGood says...
2:32pm Tue 18 Sep 12

Welcome news indeed, provided its not just an excuse for further endless prevarication - the requirement for safer cycling in St Owens Street was identified as a policy by the former City Council in their 1996 Local Plan and numerous surveys, consultations, reports and designs later, we are still waiting.

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Gillian1961 says...
3:20pm Tue 18 Sep 12

cycle route great now lets get it up and runner, we have a cycle path being made right this minute at Credenhill funded by the SAS camp if it wasn't for them we would be waiting as long as the By-pass to be made, thank you SAS no good depending on the council it never happens all they do is waste money talking about it, broad st will never happen the grid will never happen widemash st relieve road will never happen , so try and get the cycle route finished then we can start believing in you lot.

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Roger J says...
3:29pm Tue 18 Sep 12

Yeah this is all ok but how much has already been wasted on architects & planning fees ?

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William Rudd says...
4:11pm Tue 18 Sep 12

the grid will never happen widemash st relieve road will never happen

Erm the grid will happen,was talking to someone from Mc.Alpine last friday while at the multi car park.
What is the Widemarsh St relief Rd??

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William Rudd says...
4:19pm Tue 18 Sep 12

I'm all for cycle ways but I'm forever seeing cyclists using the Road instead.
Roman Rd & Rotherwas being the main areas I constantly see them hardly ever used.And its about time cycle helmets were made compulsory to wear. you have to wear one while on a moped that has a top speed of 30 mph,a speed that can easily be reached on a cycle.

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William Rudd says...
4:19pm Tue 18 Sep 12

I'm all for cycle ways but I'm forever seeing cyclists using the Road instead.
Roman Rd & Rotherwas being the main areas I constantly see them hardly ever used.And its about time cycle helmets were made compulsory to wear. you have to wear one while on a moped that has a top speed of 30 mph,a speed that can easily be reached on a cycle.

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Gillian1961 says...
6:30pm Tue 18 Sep 12

I am for the cycle paths as in my previous comment, but as long as it dos not go straight through the town centre, as i see a lot of people going through high town on a Saturday on there BMX'S having no consideration for us shoppers, they are a law unto them self.

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littlewhitebull says...
6:48pm Tue 18 Sep 12

Some good news at last! Broad Street ain't broke - so no need to fix it.

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TwoWheelsGood says...
7:35pm Tue 18 Sep 12

WilliamR - you'll forever see cyclists using the roads because that’s what they're there for! I'm a cyclist and a motorist - I cycle on roads and generally avoid the cycle paths because they are badly designed and maintained. The one on Holme Lacy Rd was a disgraceful waste of money, thrown down just to meet some spurious box tickers target. Cycle paths have their place - the Great Western Way for instance is a fantastic resource. Cycle helmets are designed only for protection up to 12mph. A motor cycle helmet is completely different and would be totally unsafe to wear on a bike. You won't see many cyclist easily doing 30mph - that’s the sort of speed professionals cycle at in races. You might not like it, but both cycling on the road and having the choice whether or not to a helmet are both entirely legal.

Gillian1961 - it is legal to cycle through High Town before 10.30am and after 4.30pm. I do it regularly, but slowly and with deference to pedestrians. Idiots who break the law during the day should be dealt with by the Police.

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Gillian1961 says...
8:12pm Tue 18 Sep 12

The worse iv seen is the other Tuesday by mac'donalds i do not know if it was Giro day but they were on there BMXS some of them were kicking a football around in front of OAP mothers with push chairs and people in wheel chairs Police What Police never see any unless there's a football match on but now united have been demoted we might never see a police man again.

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Herefordian says...
8:30pm Tue 18 Sep 12

I saw a woman cyclist in Roman Road yesterday with a cycle helmet
........strapped to the back of her bike!

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mizza21 says...
11:11am Wed 19 Sep 12

The architect behind the refurbishment of Widemarsh Street ? He is being engaged by the council again !
Well, as well as curbs which are dangerous and serve no purpose, perhaps he should introduce a few new features for Broad Street.
Bear Traps and pits and people employed to pop out of alleyways to hit you with sticks.
Thanks heavens the council has put this on hold. Perhaps they'll see sense and employ someone who knows what they're doing to design the "upgrade".

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probono says...
4:49pm Wed 19 Sep 12

I await with interest how the anti - everything brigade will handle this. There must be an objeciton, threatened action and a huge blog in this somewhere surely ?

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William Rudd says...
5:29pm Wed 19 Sep 12

The 2.9 million came from the D.O.T

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richybeaver says...
9:16am Thu 20 Sep 12

Presumably this will mean the 74 weeks it was going to take to 'improve' Broad Street will now be transferred to Whitecross Road - joy.

Just look at how long it is taking at Credenhill - is it a motorway extension, or runway 3?

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TwoWheelsGood says...
12:36pm Thu 20 Sep 12

The surface of Whitecross Road is so appalling it makes it almost unridable for a cyclist. I'd like to see this properly resurfaced (not a slurry over the cracks) before any cycle provision - and I speak as a regular cyclist.

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