A new bus and footway link on the outskirts of Brecon built to improve public transport and pedestrian links between two residential estates was officially opened last week.
The Cae Derw to Maes-y-Ffynnon Bus Link was officially opened at Cradoc Close, Brecon on Friday 19 February. The £125,000 link was funded and designed by Powys County Council and took eight weeks to construct.
The link, built by the council’s framework contractor Alun Griffiths Ltd, consists of a 3.5 metre wide single-way tarmac road approximately 100 metres in length and a 1.5 metre wide adjacent footway. To ensure that only buses use the link, an automated rising bollard has been installed which will only allow scheduled buses and some maintenance vehicles to pass.
The transport service will now achieve a half hourly service, double the previous frequency, and provide shorter journey times.
It will provide an improve service to Avenue Road, Pendre Road, Beacons Park, Pendre Close and Pendre Gardens. These estates currently generate the most bus usage in the town and these measures are expected to increase patronage.
Various environmental enhancement measures have been incorporated into the scheme, including the installation of several bat boxes and the creation to a five metre wide nature strip around the perimeter of the adjacent field. The site also incorporates sustainable urban drainage techniques, with all the rainfall run off from the site being encouraged to soak away, rather than entering the downstream highway drainage systems.
The location is also one of the first locations in the county to be lit by energy saving LED lanterns.
