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Introduction and Background
The City Centre bus station will be moving to a new site in late 2012 and we are now planning for its opening by
reorganising the way buses will get to and from it.
The new bus station is being built as part of a multi-million pound development of the City Centre which will include
more shops and other facilities like a hotel and leisure to help rejuvenate the area around the old bus station. When the buses are moved, the old bus station and the surrounding 1960’s buildings will be demolished
to make way for a new shopping centre which is being planned by developer Realis Estates. Realis
Estates specialise in retail and leisure developments in and out of town with schemes ranging in size from £3m to £250m
in locations from Belfast to the West, Hull to the East, Edinburgh to the North and Salisbury to
the South.
The redevelopment aims to transform this prominent City Centre site into a premier regional shopping destination.
The scheme is being designed by architects Benoy and will include a wide range of new stores, cafes, restaurants, vibrant
public spaces, a multi-screen cinema, a hotel, modern bus facility and improved parking.
The first part of the redevelopment of the area will be the construction of a new “state-of-the-art”
bus station on the site of the former John Street car park. Work on the new bus
station started in summer 2011 with a contract to stabilise the land and the main contract to construct the buildings and
roads started just before Christmas 2011. The new bus station will be ready for
buses and passengers to use in late 2012. Vinci has been appointed as the main
contractor.
The design, by award winning architects Grimshaw, who also designed the Eden Project in Cornwall, will provide a
semicircular enclosed passenger concourse around two sides of the site with buses arriving and departing from John Street.
The design of the new bus station and the shopping centre includes the pedestrianisation of further parts of the
City Centre and the rerouting of buses to provide for a better pedestrian environment and an improvement to the public realm
in the City Centre. Work to make these changes will start in early 2012 in Tontine
Street and Percy Street and further improvements to the public realm in Albion Square will be carried out later in 2012.
The relocation of the bus station to a new site means that bus routes need to be changed and the work outlined in
this consultation are designed to enable buses to get to and from the new bus station safely and efficiently while allowing
for the further pedestrianisation of the City Centre.
We consulted on the work for bus rerouting in the area close to the new bus station in July 2011, and we are now
embarking on a further round of consultation for the work in Stafford Street, Trinity Street and Old Hall Street. Please look at the links to the information pages on the consultation and let us have any comments or views
by email to buses@stoke.gov.uk or write to us at City Centre Bus Consultation, City
Renewal Civic Centre, Stoke-on-Trent, ST4 1HH