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Works on a side street running between Preston Bus Station and Preston Markets have begun.
Preston City Council is beginning the first stage of the ‘Illuminate and Integrate’ scheme which is seeing new pavements, lighting and tree-planting on the roads between the Market, new Animate cinema site and the Bus Station.
Work began this week in Old Vicarage, which runs between Lancaster Road North and Tithebarn Street, with 12-weeks of digging expected until the end of November. There’s no road closures planned as part of the work and the road remains open.
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The pavement is to be widened, new lighting including ‘projection lighting’ put in to ‘animate the street scene’ and a new avenue of trees. The road has the Black-a-Moor Head pub on the corner, with its distinctive mural on the back wall facing into Old Vicarage.
A first phase of the scheme is expected to cost around £1million with work also taking place in Ormskirk Road – where overnight closures are in place for much of September at the Tithebarn Street junction for work to put in the entrance to the underground car. Improvements to the pavements and tree-planting will also take place.
Cabinet member for community wealth building, councillor Valerie Wise, said: “We’re thrilled to see this pivotal project in the Harris Quarter moving forward, complimenting other initiatives in the area, such as The Harris and Animate.
“The Illuminate and Integrate project will revitalise this part of the city centre, bringing fresh energy while also enhancing street safety.”
Funding for the work has come from the city’s ‘Towns Fund’ deal which secured a multi-million pound package of work for the city’s ‘Harris Quarter’.
Chair of Preston Towns Fund strategic board, John Chesworth, said: “While the Harris Quarter is well connected to the rest of the city centre via an existing network of streets, many of these routes are dated, having been designed around vehicular movement, limiting the potential for cycle and pedestrian use.
“Illuminate and Integrate will complement the excellent architecture within the Harris Quarter while improving the quality of the public spaces.
“A key aspect of the scheme is to encourage footfall and dwell time in the day and evening, which is allied to our vision for the Harris Quarter to be the go-to cultural destination in Preston.”
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Further work for the Lancaster Road area and ‘Harris Quarter’, the area running from Ringway down to the Harris Museum and Art Gallery and to the Bus Station, are due to take place in Spring next year.
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