Ironmonger Row to be ripped up - a year after £4m revamp

[dutchman]

Ironmonger Row is to be ripped up again – just a year after a massive £4 million revamp was completed.

The massive refurbishment in the area which links Trinity Street and the Burges in the city centre began in 2008.

But the project was hit by setbacks and the area remained closed for two years after workers discovered a vast underground cavern at the top of the Burges – sparking fears the road could collapse.

After months of strengthening work, the area finally opened in April last year.

But now parts of it look set to be pulled up again as part of the huge Broadgate redevelopment.

Plans to pedestrianise Broadgate will see its bus stops moving down the road to Ironmonger Row, behind Primark and along the Burges.

To accommodate the extra buses, developers plan to widen the road currently linking Trinity Street to the Burges.

Coun Roger Bailey (Cons, Whoberley), who has opposed the pedestrianisation of Broadgate, called the move a “total waste of money”.

He said: “I am against pedestrianised areas because buses and coaches should be allowed to get through a city centre even if there is one lane. It is not convenient for bus users, shops and customers.

“Widening the road now seems a total waste of rate payers’ money. It is just crazy. It is putting money down the drain.

“This is just taking it back to how the old Burges used to be where buses clogged up the street. It’s a step backwards.

“This has always been in the plans in the small print and planners have kept it in the background. They have to do something to allow buses to come into the city centre but I think very few people realise what is going on

“The council has kept a low profile and concentrated on Broadgate hoping that people wouldn’t notice they were ripping Ironmonger Row up again.

“The square cost a fortune when it was done and of course they had months of delay which cost even more money.

“I think people will be outraged once they find out how much money has been wasted.”

When the plans for the new Ironmonger Square were first announced there were hopes of bringing in new businesses including cafes and restaurants, and attract people with markets and performances.

There were also plans for a giant screen on the back of the Primark wall.

Regular bus user John Bevan said: “It is stupid. They haven’t even looked at what is required for elderly and disabled people and now cutting into the paving is a waste of money.

“I feel that no one in the planning department has foreseen this problem otherwise this area would have not been paved in the first place.”

The 75-year-old, whose wife is also disabled, added: “We use the buses regularly. Once they close off Broadgate my wife and a lot more people like her won’t be able to go into the city centre. They’ll be shut off.”

A spokesman for Coventry City Council said the road widening had always been in the Broadgate plans because people said they wanted to get off their buses as close as possible to Broadgate.

Bus companies have now approved the plan and designs for the area are due to be finalised next week.

[rebbonk]

Oh come on Flapdoodle, you don't expect joined up thinking from our wonderful council do you? Let's be fair, it's not like it's their own money they're wasting is it?

Message to Coventry council.... and stop wasting OUR money