Work to improve the link between Ipswich’s historic town centre and the business district and Waterfront is set to start a new phase at the end of the month.
The rebuilding work of the top of Princes Street is almost complete, and work will then shift to Giles’ Circus.
Work at Giles Circus is starting less than six years after the area was last remodelled in a £650,000 revamp by Ipswich Council.
This time kerbs will be changed and two of the trees will be moved to allow a better junction for one-way traffic to be created.
In September attention will switch to Queen Street which will be paved and pedestrianised to link in better with St Nicholas Street and create a more attractive walk from the Cornhill to the Waterfront.
Services will also be installed in Queen Street to allow market stalls to use the area – along with Giles’ Circus. That will allow the market to expand and also give it a new home for when the Cornhill is redeveloped.
Work on Queen Street is due to be completed by November 18, which is the start of the Christmas shopping season in the town centre – and one of its first uses will be as the centre of the town’s Festive Market.
The last work will be the removal of the traffic lights between Queen Street and St Nicholas Street and their replacement with a zebra crossing on a raised section of road.
The scheme has been seen as the final piece in the jigsaw of Travel Ipswich – and is seen as a vital prelude to the eventual redevelopment of the Cornhill.
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