The final push to complete the Valley Gardens project begins next week with the final set of road closures for resurfacing.
The last stage of road resurfacing starts this Sunday (28 June) and carries on for about five nights subject to weather, from 8pm to 6am.
Work will also continue to relandscape the gardens, lay new paving and parking on the west side of the Old Steine, put in benches, cycle stands and bollards on the seafront and lay a new surface for the rest of the cycle lane.
The hot weather has meant laying resin bound gravel around the war memorial and gardens has had to be paused for the time being.
The road closures will affect the southwest corner of the Old Steine, Castle Square and the section of St James’s St next to the war memorial. The A23 and A259 will remain open to through traffic as usual.
Buses will be diverted as follows:
- Westbound services will divert via the seafront and West Street. Services travelling south on the Old Steine will stop at S4 on the eastern side (south of St James’s St).
- Eastbound services will divert via Queens Road and North Road and then:
- Services travelling north will stop at R2 (King & Queen)
- Services usually going via St James’s St will stop at P1 (Sealife Centre) and then travel via Lower Rock Gardens
- Services terminating at the Old Steine will divert via Edward St and Lower Rock Gardens before restarting at bus stop R1 (north of the war memorial).
Access to properties on the western side of the Old Steine will be possible via Steine Lane (accessed via Church Street, Portland Street, North Street and East Street).
This will also be the case when access is restricted when new paving is being laid during the next few weeks.
Let’s hope that the surface on the cycle lanes will be as smooth as it is on the roads. The lane past Preston Park and towards town is ridiculously uneven. Council officers need to ensure contractors do a world-class job and not spoil the ship for a ha’p’orth of tar, literally and metaphorically.
£13million of public money wasted on a hellish vanity project bringing no benefit to drivers, bus users, pedestrians or local businesses and inflicting two years of environmentally damaging noise, dust and disruption to Valley Gardens – once the proud gateway to the city. And still more hell to come. Roll on the May 2027 local elections. Let’s hope all the plant and builder’s materials have not undone the recent £400,000 restoration works to the Victoria Fountain after a former Christmas Fair necessitated the repairs.
Oh for the love of God, stop moaning about VG3. This incessant whinging is getting ridiculous. The widely predicted road chaos has not materialised, the area in front of the pier is already much more pleasant for pedestrians and cyclists (including the pedestrians going on to the pier who apparently haven’t been scared away by the work, contrary to the armchair experts), and you can already see how the area round the fountains and in front of the Pavilion is going to be a nicer place to linger. How about a bit of positivity for once? That area used to be just cars, tarmac and railings, I think it’s an improvement. Why not suspend your opinion until the work is complete and give it a chance?
We get it, you’re not a fan. Do you have to bang us over the head with your relentless negativity quite so much?
FFS. Whatever your views on VG3, the fact remains that £13m on a pointless vanity project which dipped into council taxpayer funding to the point that the council now claim they cannot afford to keep a nearby £400k a year day centre open for adults with learning difficulties is obscene. And in breach of BH Council statutory duties to prioritise city goods and services above all else.
All vanity projects have unintended consequences when the capital funding runs out, as it invariably does, and the last third of the money has to be borrowed or filched from the local taxpayer.
Proud gateway?