The bus hub will greatly enhance space adjacent to the historic city walls through the creation of an urban park at Castle Way car park, and a new bus hub at Albion Place car park to increase the number of available bus stops. Together with the Portland Terrace bus/taxi/cycle only stretch of road will significantly improve public transport access into and around the City Centre.
- Provide a high quality gateway in the form of a new bus hub
- Increase the number of bus journeys into and through the City Centre
- Reduce the longer term impact on climate change and air quality through increased use of sustainable transport
- Improve the health and wellbeing of residents, including deprived communities through creation of a new urban park
- Provide opportunities to attract additional outdoor events within the new urban park
Benefits of the improvements
- New bus hub to include new waiting facilities, seating, travel information all using high quality public realm materials enhancing the old town heritage setting
- New urban park at Castle Way car park using high quality public realm materials, landscaping features and ambient lighting to enhance the public space and reflect the City’s rich heritage by strengthening the connection with the historic city walls
- Improved bus access along Portland Terrace and enhanced pedestrian environment along the length of Portland Terrace bus/taxi/cycle only stretch of road
Project details
The new Albion Place bus hub and adjacent park at Castle Way will create an exciting new space within the heart of the City Centre whilst helping to future proof bus operations to the west of the City Centre. The scheme will increase the number of available bus stops while greatly improving public transport access into and around the City Centre.
Amenities at the interchange include:
- New waiting facilities
- Public seating
- Landscaping
- Access to e-scooter hire
- Travel information
The scheme includes conversion of the Castle Way car park to an urban park. This will greatly enhance the public space reflecting the city’s rich heritage by strengthening the connection with the historic city walls.
Changes to Castle Way carriageway including new and improved crossings will improve access for pedestrians using the new interchange.
Construction date: Early 2024 to Autumn 2024
September 2024
As part of the next phase of the project, we will be completing the resurfacing for the scheme over a period of 7 nights, not including the weekend, with the work taking place on Albion Place and Castle Way. This work will take place overnight, with the dates of the work below, as well as the map showing the closure extent. Working hours for all phases will be between 8:00pm and 6:00am.
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Monday 30th September 2024 for 2 nights. |
Resurfacing of Albion Place between Forest View and Castle Way. |
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Wednesday 2nd October 2024 for 3 nights. |
Resurfacing of Castle Way between Portland Terrace and Castle Lane. |
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Monday 7th October 2024 for 2 nights. |
Adding new road markings, anti-skid surfacing, and textured surfacing to both Albion Place and Castle Way.
During this time, we will also take the opportunity to make repairs to the carriageway on Bargate Street, with a closure in place which is not shown on the map below. |
During the closures, a diversion route will be clearly signed for traffic.
For any concerns or queries, please reach out to us on CityCentreTCF@balfourbeatty.com.
Access to Forest View
During the work, it may not be possible to provide access for vehicles via Albion Place or Castle Way for access to Forest View, this is to ensure the safety of the public and their property as there will need to be excavations required in the road surface to facilitate the works.
Pedestrian access for residents to Forest View and the Masonic Hall will be maintained using a temporary walkway from Castle Way onto Albion Place. The signed pedestrian diversion routes currently in-situ will remain in place via Castle Lane or Lansdowne Hill for access during those hours. Please be aware that for our team on site, safety is the top priority; we will not be able to allow members of the public through the works area without a marshal present to escort them. Please speak to the team on site if you require access and they will be happy to help; we would like to thank you for your patience during this time.
May 2024
We will shortly be moving onto the next phases of work, which will include constructing new footways and islands which will form part of the Albion Place Bus Hub, which require carriageway incursion onto Castle Way. There will be instances where temporary traffic signals are required on Castle Way, including works beginning Monday 20th May 2024, which are expected to be in place for approximately 2 weeks.
In any further instances where temporary traffic lights are required, we will write to residents and businesses in the area to inform them closer to the time, as well as updating this page.
During the works from Monday 20th May, we will also have temporary push-button pedestrian crossings in place as the zebra crossing on Castle Way will not be in use.
Please be aware that as of November 2023, we implemented a bus/taxi/cycle only stretch of road on Portland Terrace which is now enforced with cameras. Due to this, the impact of this work is expected to mostly impact bus services in the area, and so our team are working closely with them to mitigate the affect on their routes.
There may be temporary or alternative bus stops in use, please reach out to the bus operators to find out more.
January 2024
This project is scheduled to begin Monday 8th January 2024. We will be permanently closing the Castle Way and Albion Place Car Parks from this date. For the duration of January, the works will predominantly consist of enabling works. Our team will work alongside the archaeological team, as this area is one of the city’s most important archaeological sites, given its close proximity to the city’s historical medieval walls. Any significant artefacts will be carefully collected and archived during this time.
Once these enabling works are complete, construction on the key elements of the Albion Place Bus Hub and Urban Park will then be undertaken, expected to be complete by Autumn 2024.
As the works progress throughout 2024, there will be phases of work that take place on the footways and carriageway of Castle Way, however residents and businesses will be informed of this closer to the time in writing.
Access to properties will be maintained at all times during construction, and if you experience any changes to your access needs or are expecting any large deliveries, please speak to one of the team on site and they will do their best to accommodate you. During construction, there will be a closure of the walkway on Maddison Street which leads into the car parks, and there may be times when we must close Forty Steps to prevent pedestrians from walking into the works area.
Please note, CGI is a representation of how the scheme may look and is subject to change.
