Buses and taxis move out of Broadgate
Tuesday 25 October 2011
Buses and taxis are set to move out of Broadgate on Sunday 30 October - when they will relocate to stops in other areas of the city centre including Burges, after setting down passengers in Ironmonger Row. Taxis will move to a new rank in Greyfriars Lane.
The moves come after the plan for Broadgate was changed to reflect the clear instruction from local people that Coventry's main square should be pedestrianised.
The transformation of Broadgate is part of a wider £7 million package of improvements which also includes improving the link between the Railway Station and Bull Yard by filling in two subways and extending Greyfriars Green right into the heart of the city as well as improving the setting of some of the city's finest buildings such as Holy Trinity church. All of this work is part funded by £3.5 million grant from the European Regional Development Fund.
Cllr Lindsley Harvard, Cabinet Member for City Services, said: "We have responded to what people wanted by providing a point in Ironmonger Row for setting down passengers from buses, and taxis will be moved just around the corner to Greyfriars Lane. I think we have achieved the task people asked us to, of getting them as close as possible to Broadgate, whilst also making access to West Orchards easier. Moreover, we have plans for people to easily access other parts of the city centre, via hop on and off inner ring route services.
"The work is ongoing and I would like to thank everyone for bearing with us and assure people that we are making good progress and are, indeed, ahead of schedule."
Download the new bus timetable.
Changes to bus services may not be final and may change again on 29 January 2012 when Centro has completed its wider network review.
Centro will be holding two exhibitions at Pool Meadow so people can find out more about the bus moves, one on Thursday 27 October between 1am and 6pm and one on Saturday 29 October between 10am and 3pm. A team will also be on hand on Monday 31 October to help and advise people in Broadgate.
Cllr Angus Adams, the chairman of Centro, said: "The people of Coventry can be assured that with the change of location for buses to new hubs in the Broadgate area we are doing everything we can to ensure services operate reliably. We'll be monitoring things closely ahead of the wider full network review in January.
"These are exciting times for Coventry city centre and public transport plays an important part of it, supporting and enabling economic growth and helping to generate new jobs.
"The bus stopping arrangements in Burges and Ironmonger Row will be reviewed as part of Centro's wider network review - so I hope bus users will bear with us too until the final stops and shelters are in place."
The Council has been talking to the taxi trade about the new rank in Greyfriars Lane and about size and location of other new ranks in the city centre. The change in Greyfriars Lane will see the one way order being reversed so traffic will only be allowed to travel towards High Street. There will also be improvements to the pavements making it easier for wheelchair users to access taxis and the existing limited waiting bay will be removed.
Commenting on the important step to move traffic out of Broadgate Cllr Linda Bigham, Cabinet Member for City development, said: "This is a really exciting step forward in the development of our new square - which will be traffic free as a result of residents' feedback. For many years it has been dominated by traffic with wide lanes of road on three sides. Once traffic moves out I think people will get a real feel of the scale and size of the square and it will be easier to see how it will work as a space for events including market and street performance."
