Corporation Street reopens ahead of schedule

Work to improve traffic flow at a key town centre junction has been completed within budget and ahead of schedule.

Corporation Street, which has been closed to through traffic since 14 August, has just reopened (29 Nov) with a new additional southbound lane on the approach to Whalebridge junction in the direction of the Leonardo Hotel. The works included numerous underground upgrades to existing utility services, which has taken some co-ordination but should reduce further works in the area over the coming years.

The £1.1m scheme also includes a new access road into the Kimmerfields development site next to Zurich’s Unity Place office and the creation of a new dedicated cycle lane, which will link up the Eastern Flyer cycle route with Fleming Way. The improvements to the cycle network were made following consultation with Swindon Cycle Campaign group.

The road was originally due to reopen prior to Christmas. Local firm Lake Edge Limited successfully completed the project using local employees and utilising a local supply chain.

Councillor Chris Watts, Swindon Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for the Environment and Transport, said: “I’m very pleased to see the work has finished early and within budget and the road is looking excellent.

“I’d like to thank Lake Edge for working extremely hard to get the scheme finished on time and managing the various utility companies to ensure there was no impact on the deadline.

“As an administration we want to use more local companies to carry out projects for us across the Borough and this is a great start. This resonates with our aspirations of community wealth building and keeping funds within the Borough as part of our Build a Better Swindon policy.

“I know the road closure has been an inconvenience for many people over the past few months, but it will help improve traffic flow through the Whalebridge junction and has helped unlock development in the Kimmerfields brownfield site through the creation of the new access road.”