These artist’s impressions show how one of Norwich’s main shopping streets could be changed through a £5m revamp aimed at speeding up buses and making the area more pleasant for pedestrians.
The St Stephens Street revamp would see changes to the section between the inner ring road up to Red Lion Street, also taking in Surrey Street and Rampant Horse Street.
In St Stephens Street, new sawtooth bus bays would be created, which council bosses say would make it easier for buses to pull away after picking up or dropping off passengers.
Norfolk County Council has just launched public consultation on the scheme, after £32m of government Transforming Cities money for transport changes in and around the city was confirmed.The council says the designs aim to create an area where people feel safe and relaxed, where it is easy to cross the road and where there is more space for those using public transport.
They say it would also cut air pollution in the street, as well as speeding up bus journey times.
Pavements would be widened on Surrey Street, while there would be new bus shelters, seating, landscaping and bus information.
The walking route through to shops and the open space at Hay Hill, via William Booth Street, will also be improved.
Martin Wilby, Norfolk County Council’s cabinet member for highways, infrastructure and transport and chair of the transforming cities joint committee, said: “As a busy area for retail, key transport hub and gateway to the city centre, improvements to St Stephens Street are long overdue.
“Bus waiting areas can easily become crowded, which restricts pedestrian movements.”
Mike Stonard, Norwich City Council’s cabinet member for sustainable and inclusive growth, said: “I would strongly encourage people to respond to this consultation and feed in their views. This is an important area of the city centre and we have an opportunity to make significant improvements.
Full details of the proposed changes can be seen at www.norfolk.gov.uk/StStephens where residents can share their views via a brief online survey.
Paper copies are available on 0344 800 8020 and the deadline for responses is Monday, October 19.
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