Improvement works on Custom House Quay have been paused for the Christmas break.
Work started on Monday 4 October to enhance the area and provide a better mixed-use environment for pedestrians, diners and harbour-users.
So far, drainage has been improved and the footway has been widened, with new paving slabs laid, from St Mary Street almost up to East Street.
The area has been made safe and tidy as of today (Friday 17 December) and work will resume on Tuesday 4 January 2022.
Cllr Ray Bryan, Portfolio Holder for Highways, Travel and Environment, said:
“We’ve had some challenging ground conditions on site so we’re not quite where we had hoped to be. We’ve worked an extra week this side of Christmas to make up some time, and I’m confident that we are on programme to finish construction before the Easter holidays.
“Many of the operatives working on this site also carry out gritting duties and emergency response to extreme weather like flooding and road clearance, so precise timings of works may change but we wanted to share these dates with residents and businesses.”
In the New Year, work will continue progressing eastwards towards the Pavilion end of Custom House Quay with small sections of road closing to provide a safe working safe space. Access for pedestrians is unaffected and businesses are open as usual.
From 4 January to 11 February – the road will be closed between East Street and South Parade. Kerbing, drainage and paving works will be carried out, this includes work on the harbour side of the carriageway.
From 14 February to 11 March – the road will be closed between South Parade and Pilgrims Way. Kerbing, drainage and paving works will be carried out.
From 14 March to 6 April – the road will be closed from Pilgrims Way to the Esplanade for kerbing, drainage and paving works.
Additionally, from 28 February to 22 March work will also be taking place on the harbour side of the carriageway at the western end of the scheme between St Mary Street and Maiden Street, with this section of road also closed. This work will complete kerbing and drainage works, as well as rebuild the fishermen’s ramp.
This work couldn’t be completed earlier in the project as a decision was awaited on the Traffic Regulation Orders for the scheme.
Towards the end of the scheme, the road and harbour side footway will be surfaced and imprinted with paving effects. The dates for this will be available nearer the time, as dry conditions are needed for the imprinting.
hi does that mean the 1hr parking will go forever ? the people who make these deisions are killing the town / it used to be handy to park for a hour free/ to go to bank ./ butchers etc / i will not pay over priced parking / and a lot of people agree with me // dorset council are killing weymouth // i await your reply //// regards gilbert field
Hi Mr Gilbert Field, Yes, the 39 1hr parking bays have been permanently removed from Custom House Quay.
It was always going to be a challenge to please everyone as this is a heavily mixed-use area with harbour vessels, hospitality businesses, parking and an attractive setting for residents and visitors to enjoy.
Removal of the parking has provided space for wider footways on both side of the road and removed excess traffic from a busy pedestrian area.
These parking spaces encouraged circulating traffic seeking free spaces, adding to local congestion.
They were removed in March 2021 as part of the temporary measures to support businesses reopening. On Thursday 4 November, the Western and Southern Area Planning Committee unanimously approved the Traffic Regulation Order for the scheme.
Its strange to remove free parking spaces to stop people driving to try to find cheap parking. Surely the solution is to provide more free parking?