PEDESTRIANS, motorists, rail and bus travellers, will all get a much better welcome to Woodbridge this summer - thanks to a £250,000 project to make an area safer and more attractive.

By Richard Cornwell

PEDESTRIANS, motorists, rail and bus travellers, will all get a much better welcome to Woodbridge this summer - thanks to a £250,000 project to make an area safer and more attractive.

Work is under way on long-awaited changes to the area around the town's railway station.

Andy Smith, deputy leader of Suffolk Coastal said: “We will soon have buses able to stop at the station for the first time, safer and dedicated footpaths for pedestrians, a new link to the car park behind the community hall, and an extra 12 parking spaces.

“This £250,000 improvement scheme has been made possible because of a partnership between this council, the county council, Network Rail and One Railway, with the two councils each providing about half the cost.

“Millcard who redeveloped the former goods shed, now named Quaypoint, also assisted by providing part of the link road.

“When completed this summer it will mean a much safer and more user-friendly environment for the station and its car parks, and will offer a far better first impression for the many visitors to the town.”

The work will result in a link through to the council's improved Station Road car park to the rear of the community hall and the new public toilets, safer dedicated pedestrian routes to the station and access for buses, with a stop just outside the station entrance.

It will also separate the taxi parking and access to the Riverside Theatre from the public parking area and create a much more attractive access to the station itself, as well as a safer area for users of the taxi office, the Tourist Information Centre, the Station Hotel and the Whistle Stop Café.

Mr Smith said: “We will end up with a more attractive, simpler and safer area around the station which can only be good news for everyone. This has been a complicated project, with many legal hurdles to overcome, and it has started later in the year than we would have liked.

“However, we are trying to minimise the disruption over the next couple of months and I hope that everyone will be patient because when it is finished it will be a real boost for the town, its residents and visitors.”

Because of work, the council has had to temporarily close the coach park behind the swimming pool. It is hoped it will be open again by the end of next month.

Do you think the changes will improve the area? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or e-mail EveningStarLetters@eveningstar.co.uk