Source: Coastline – Suffolk Coastal District Council’s newsletter
Work is set to start on a scheme to boost Woodbridge by creating much-needed extra car parking.
The £850,000 project is set to start today in response to the call for more spaces from local businesses and the Town Council.
The creation of 63 extra spaces at The Avenue and Station Road car parks is due to take six months and expected to be completed during summer 2019.
“Woodbridge is becoming increasingly popular with visitors and the town centre is thriving, so we had repeated calls to provide extra parking for shoppers and visitors alike,” explained Cllr Carol Poulter, Suffolk Coastal’s Cabinet Member with responsibility for the Green Environment.
“We apologise for any inconvenience caused by the work, but we need to provide improved parking facilities if the town is to continue to prosper. We have arranged for the work to be carried out at a time to avoid the main tourist season, but realise that Woodbridge is popular all year round, so there will be some people who are put out by the work.”
Work will be done in four phases, starting at The Avenue carpark. The public access between The Avenue carpark and Station Road carpark will be closed during the work, so there will be no access to the river or Kingston Park via this route for the duration of the project.
The phasing of the work and the sitting of the main compound area, in the Station Road carpark, has been carefully planned to ensure the maximum amount of parking remain available during the work.
While there will be some loss of the current vegetation, the larger trees are being retained and a substantial new planting scheme for new trees and vegetation has been planned to replace anything that is taken out.
Other features, such as an electric charger for two cars, better lighting, new cycle racks, along with the installation of bat and bird boxes are also programmed in.
Following consultation with local residents, speed humps are being added, to slow traffic down in the carparks.
The recycling bins have now been moved and placed on parking bays directly in front of the fenced area. They are accessible throughout the work period.
Suffolk Coastal has planned to do the work over the winter period as it is outside the busy summer season and less disruptive to local businesses.
