Peterborough's council leader '˜very impressed' with finished Bourges Boulevard scheme

Peterborough City Council leader Cllr John Holdich:
Councillor Holdich with Andy Starnes, Head of City Development at CityFibre and  Rebecca Stephens, City Development Manager for CityFibre pictured in Dogsthorpe RoadCouncillor Holdich with Andy Starnes, Head of City Development at CityFibre and  Rebecca Stephens, City Development Manager for CityFibre pictured in Dogsthorpe Road
Councillor Holdich with Andy Starnes, Head of City Development at CityFibre and Rebecca Stephens, City Development Manager for CityFibre pictured in Dogsthorpe Road

It has taken a few months to complete, but I am delighted to say that the new junction in Bourges Boulevard is now finished.

The junction is making it easier for motorists to access the London North Eastern Railway (LNER) car park close to Peterborough railway station, which is heavily used by rail commuters.

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Not only that but a new pedestrian crossing which has been installed as part of the work is improving access to and from the city centre.

I went to have a look earlier this week and must say I’m very impressed with the finished work.

Construction got under way back in February and has seen ramped access to the car park created, as well as a right turn lane and carriageway re-surfacing.

The car park has also been enhanced, with new parking spaces created, along with a footpath and a verge.

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The work marks the completion of the council’s Bourges Boulevard Phase 2 project.

We have improved the public realm area with new paving, street furniture, lighting, street trees and artwork, resurfaced multiple areas of footway and carriageway, refurbished several sets of traffic signals, installed traffic calming provisions, upgraded the street lighting, repaired safety fencing and made localised improvements to traffic signs and road markings.

On a wider scale these improvements have led to increased footfall in the city centre, fulfilling our commitment to attract new businesses and visitors alike.

On Friday we welcomed members of the local media for a tour of the council’s new offices at Sand Martin House.

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It is a fantastic facility and don’t just take my word for it, take a wander down there yourself and you will see that progress on the entire site is continuing at pace.

By becoming the anchor tenant on the site, we are helping to kick-start a wider £120 million redevelopment on what was for many many years a derelict area. The award development will also include high quality apartments, a Hilton Garden Inn hotel and leisure and retail facilities.

Fletton Quays is a real feather in our cap, it shows Peterborough is a buzzing city and that people and businesses want to come here.

The council’s move here will also help us generate over £8 million in capital receipts, grant funds and income, by consolidating our office accommodation.

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This will be used for vital council services to address a shortfall in government funding. Part of this will be generated through the sale of Bayard Place and leasing out parts of Town Hall and our new office accommodation.

Earlier this year we announced that Peterborough had been selected by CityFibre and Vodafone UK to benefit from a city-wide roll-out of full fibre infrastructure.

This will see Gigafast broadband brought to customers across the city by early 2019, bringing with it a whole host of benefits and opportunities.

So far the roll-out is progressing at pace, as I saw with my own eyes earlier this week during a site visit.

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CityFibre has committed to invest at least £30 million in the infrastructure project which will extend its fibre network to nearly every home and business in the city.

Vodafone Gigafast Broadband is based solely on fibre-optic cables to give users a vastly superior online experience capable of Gigabit speeds (1,000 Mbps).

As a council we are committed to helping the local economy grow and the city-wide fibre roll-out could unlock huge economic growth exceeding £700 million in Gross Value Added (GVA) over the next 15 years.

Finally, there has been much media attention surrounding St Michael’s Gate and the recent provisional Key Stage 2 results. All I can add is that on both matters the council and our cabinet members are continuing to work hard to improve situations for those concerned.