Morgan Sindall is principal contractor for the scheme. They have a good understanding of working in the city centre, having successfully delivered Old Town Street and New George Street public realm improvements and are currently delivering the Armada Way regeneration scheme.
There will be different teams working on the Royal Parade project, but there will be good co-ordination between them. Morgan Sindall have appointed a customer liaison officer for the Royal Parade Scheme. They will have a dual role of keeping key stakeholders up to date on progress and being on Royal Parade regularly to assist bus users finding their relocated bus stops.
For the Royal Parade scheme, there will be two teams working from Armada Way crossing, with one in the area between Courtenay Street and Armada Way and one working in the area between Armada Way and St Andrew’s Cross. They will start work in front of the shops, working out towards the kerb. They will work in a similar way to the way that New George Street was constructed with reduced width pavements and temporary bridges that give access to the shops.
The area around Armada Way crossing will be completed first. Areas will be opened up to the public as they are fully complete.
Some work will be carried out in late evening and nights, particularly during July and August and there may be construction noise due to cutting and excavating works. This is necessary so that businesses can be fully open during their opening hours. We will contact businesses and student accommodation to make them aware of the timescale of the works and will make every effort to minimise noise and disturbance.
As well as creating a saw tooth layout and improvements to the public realm there will be carriageway reconstruction work to reduce future maintenance work. A lot of the city centre has been built on top of concrete slabs, with construction debris post WWII beneath. When these slabs deteriorate, they rock and cause cracking on the road. In areas where the slab condition is bad, the scheme will replace it with full depth carriageway reconstruction. We also intend to increase the thickness of road layers below the surface and above the slabs to strengthen the carriageway along the whole length of Royal Parade eastbound. This will involve overnight working.
Bus stops
Information on temporary bus stops
Pedestrians
Pedestrian access will remain during the day and all three crossing points will be available where possible. Some overnight restrictions may be required and pedestrians will be diverted to the other side of Royal Parade via the crossing points.
Cyclists
Cyclists should use the same lane as other vehicles when travelling through Royal Parade. The speed limit in this lane will be reduced to 20mph for the duration of the construction works. There is no cycling in the pedestrian area of Royal Parade.
Motorists
The eastbound (shop side) bus lane will be closed and all traffic including buses, will use one lane down the length of Royal Parade. The speed limit in this lane will be reduced to 20mph for the duration of the construction works. Please allow extra time for your journey.
Parking at Courtenay Street
The original plan was to temporarily reverse the one-way system around New George Street, Courtenay Street and Royal Parade. This will no longer be the case, but note that there will be no left turn into Courtenay Street from Royal Parade for the duration of the works. During this time access to Courtenay Street will be from Raleigh Street and New George Street. It will still be possible to gain access to Royal Parade from Courtenay Street.
The car park will remain open but there will be a reduced number of spaces as Morgan Sindall will have a works compound set up in it which will take up approx eight of the spaces.
Blue badge holders
Blue Badge holders cannot park on the new double yellow lines which will be painted along the eastbound side of Royal Parade. The double yellow lines will include two dashes painted on the kerbs. This means loading or unloading (including parking) is not permitted at any time.
Delivery vehicles
No deliveries are allowed on Royal Parade eastbound, but we are aware this sometimes takes place. We have made contact with all stakeholders to understand loading requirements and discuss traffic management. We will continue to keep in contact with them.