Motorists warned to expect delays on Peterborough’s Queensgate roundabout from May as new pedestrian route works gear up
Motorists and other road users are warned to expect delays on Peterborough’s Queensgate roundabout from May as works to create a new pedestrian route are ramped up.
Council chiefs say that construction work to create the new City Link will begin in earnest from May 11 and will involve some lane closures on the Queensgate roundabout.
The City Link route connecting Peterborough train station with the Cowgate entrance to the city centre is the first phase of the £65 Station Quarter development.
Highway chiefs at Peterborough City Council say that temporary traffic regulation orders for City Link will be published on April 30 and May 7 and this will be in time for the works to start on May 11.
A council spokesperson said: “These will include lane closures on Queensgate Roundabout.
"Although the traffic orders are being published later than we originally said this will not affect the timeline for our start on site.
“It will begin in May/June and the completion date for the project will remain the same.”
The council spokesperson said that workers would be removing trees and clearing more vegetation on the roundabout at the end of March.
He said: “We expect M Group to be setting up their compound in April and May, with the main road works starting in May.
"To facilitate this the Temporary Traffic Regulation Orders for the City Link project will be published on April 30, and May 7, ready for the works to commence on May 11.”
The initial works will involve planting more than 50 trees and shrubs and installing a rain garden and stone walls as part of the new footpath.
Councillor Mohammed Farooq, the council’s cabinet member for growth and regeneration, said: "The works programme anticipates diggers moving onto site from around the start of May to begin shifting large volumes of earth and rocks, to change the levels of the ground on the Queensgate Roundabout, in preparation for filling in underpasses and creating an improved and safer route from the Station to Cowgate.”
What is the Station Quarter regeneration?
The £65 million Station Quarter project was allocated £47.8 million by the Government in October 2023 through its Levelling Up funds to improve the station and surrounding areas.
The remainder of the funding is expected to come from private investors.
Designs for the Station Quarter have been put together by Ove Arup, which is the company selected by the project partners – Peterborough City Council, the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, train operator LNER, and Network Rail - to draw up a masterplan and business case for the Station Quarter.
The Station Quarter development will feature:
- New western entrance that creates a double-sided station for improved accessibility from the west side of the city.
- Multi-storey car park that will be located on the western side to support the new entrance.
- A new station square which will be a public area designed to be a gateway to the city.
- Refurbished eastern station buildings with improvements made to the existing station buildings on the city centre side.
- New pedestrian and cycle routes with a landscaped route, including a new link to replace the Cowgate underpass, connecting the station to the city centre and the Cathedral.
- Infrastructure improvements that will feature new junctions and drop-off points to reduce traffic congestion.
- Future development: The project also aims to unlock land currently used for surface parking for future commercial and residential development.