Work to give shoppers more space to park their cars in Swindon town centre has begun in earnest.
The disused area of gravel opposite the Wyvern Theatre is currently being turned into a temporary car park to increase capacity in the town centre and to help facilitate the Council’s regeneration plans for a new bus boulevard along Fleming Way.
The new temporary car park, to be known as the Wyvern Car Park, is expected to be completed in December and will bring 53 extra car parking spaces to the town centre – 12 of which will be disabled bays. There will also be space for motorbikes to park.
It is expected that the Princes Street Car Park will be transformed into a temporary bus facility while the Fleming Way boulevard is being regenerated. Work is anticipated to start on the Princes Street Car Park in autumn 2019. The displaced parking from this site can then find space in the new Wyvern Car Park.
Regenerating Fleming Way to include a new bus boulevard, a key public transport interchange which will facilitate the delivery of Kimmerfields, is one of the Council’s main Pledges (Pledge 3) and a key part of the ambitious plans for the town centre. Work is estimated to start on the new bus boulevard in early 2021.
In the meantime, turning the Wyvern Car Park into a usable space will see this derelict brownfield site brought back into use for town centre shoppers.
Councillor Dale Heenan, Swindon Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for the Town Centre, said: “"This site is an eyesore and local residents want to see visible progress on town centre regeneration.
“Bringing forward work for the temporary bus station means that this car park can be made available before Christmas for motorists, motorcyclists and blue badge holders.
“With construction work due to start in March for the Snowdome at North Star, July being the start of the Kimmerfields building work and December signalling the new 45min train timetable to Paddington, now is the time to think creatively to transform the town centre into a more attractive place in which to live, work and invest."
Work to install the Wyvern Car Park is being funded through the Swindon and Wiltshire Local Enterprise Partnership.
Your Comments
I think that it would have been better to have left the old multi storey car park as it provided much more parking than the brownfield site that we are now left with.
Surely, it was known that the proposed work on Fleming Way was going to be carried out, so why didn’t they just leave the multi storey until this work was completed?
Posted: 8 November 2018, 6.26PM by: michael eckett
Tinkering with Fleming Way Bus stops achieves little, the same as Regent Circus work where we started with 3 bus stops, we still have 3 bus stops and a BUS STAND! A lot has changed since Kimmerfields, bus provisions etc were conceived I believe this area of regeneration should reflect the future of the town centre. Swindon needs and deserves a "transport hub" where one can move under cover between trains, buses, coaches, cars, taxis, cycles, pedestrians to each of these modes of transport & the new town High Street (Parade through to the Brunel). This can easily be achieved by using Kimmerfields as a temporary car park, while a multi story car park is built on current station car park. The current car station car park is exposed, gives a poor route to the station via stairs and narrow pavement. Hardly what is deserved to support the new high speed railway. The new Multi-story car park could support the OASIS development and the Railway heritage area development. There could be two entrances one as is (Station Road) the other could be direct from Great Western Way, North Star area? via a flyover across the railway direct into a higher level of the car park. A cable car such as in Greenwich, could link from the top of the car park direct to the Outlet Shopping, the Oasis and maybe the cultural quarter at Regent Circus. Move the Bus & Coach terminus to as near as possible to the station/car park. A drop off/pick up area could be built to service the buses & trains such as most airports. Faciilties fit for purpose should be incorporated for taxis instead of them having to wait in side road.
Posted: 9 November 2018, 6.20PM by: As-I-see-it
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