Works will soon start on changing the way Swansea’s River Tawe bridges operate for traffic as ambitious boulevard plans take shape.
The boulevard scheme will transform the main road between the river bridges and the LC and will make it easier for shoppers and visitors to walk or cycle from the city centre shops to the seafront by creating better links between the two areas.
A tree-lined central area will also be introduced along the route as well as wider pavements and new crossing points for pedestrians and cyclists.
But key to the overall boulevard scheme is changing the way traffic operates at the river bridges to accommodate the projected growth in traffic over the coming decade and to help relieve congestion.
Contractual work is scheduled to start on site from the evening of Tuesday May 17. The first phase of works will only involve night-time working and will see central reservations and traffic islands removed and replaced with cones to allow better access to the work area.
The first phase will take about three to four weeks to complete.
Work on the entire scheme will be finished by December and the completed scheme will see a clockwise movement of traffic introduced around the bridges with a two-way traffic flow maintained on the southern bridge closest to Sainsbury’s.
The bridges will also be strengthened during the works and bridge crossings will be improved for pedestrians.
A detailed traffic management plan is in place and disruption will be minimised. Every effort will be made to keep two lanes of traffic open at all times during the overall works programme. Narrow lanes will be used when necessary and as much night-time and off-peak work as possible will be undertaken.
Residents and businesses will be regularly updated with progress.
Cllr Gareth Sullivan, Swansea Council’s Cabinet Member for Economic Regeneration and Planning, said: “Oystermouth Road is currently a barrier between the city centre and our wonderful coastline and the boulevard scheme will better connect the two areas.
“This is a major gateway in and out of the city centre and improving the way it looks will give many people a better first impression of Swansea and will help attract more investment in future.
“Key to the scheme is changing the way traffic operates at the bridges to help relieve congestion and aid the overall scheme.”
Cllr John Hague, Swansea Council’s Cabinet Member for the Environment, said: “More than 55,000 vehicles travel across the river bridges every day. This is much more traffic than the bridges were designed to carry and proposed developments in the city centre area will significantly increase the number of vehicles on the bridges in future.
“Congestion would only get worse if we do nothing but these improvement works will help accommodate projected traffic growth over the next decade.
“We’ll do all we can to minimise disruption while the works are in progress.”
The boulevard scheme is one of a number of projects being funded by the Welsh Assembly Government, the Wales European Funding Office and Swansea Council to improve the Swansea city centre experience for residents, businesses and visitors to the city.
Have a look at www.swanseacitycentre.com for more information.
