Cardiff council has won an award for the transformation of Wood Street in the city centre. The street has been redeveloped in recent years to change the road layout, add cycle lanes and rain gardens as well as other "improvements to the public realm".
Work by contractors Knights Brown was completed over several years including during the pandemic. The council says the road's makeover included "a new road layout; new bus lanes; rain gardens to manage surface water drainage; improvements to the public realm and a highway network which gives priority to buses ready for when the new Transport Interchange opens to the public."
The council added that the scheme was "the first of its kind in Wales" due to having a pedestrian crossing built to accommodate blind and partially sighted people and "bee bus stops" (bus shelters with planters on top to help the bee population). The award, for the best civil project of the year, was given out at the Constructing Excellence in Wales Awards 2023, where other winners included Hafan Yr Afon in Newtown, Port Talbot's redesigned Plaza and Newport's modular Zed Pods homes.
READ MORE: The eight new laws the Welsh Government wants to make this year
Councillor Dan De'Ath, cabinet member for strategic planning and transport, said: "The award is testament to all the hard work that has been put in by council officers and the contractor to complete this scheme on time and within budget. I am also pleased that we worked with a range of organisations through the consultation to ensure we delivered a scheme which is fit for all users, as well as improving the traffic flow in this area of the city.
"The Council has worked very closely with disability groups to install a bespoke pedestrian crossing that caters for blind and partially sighted people. I know this has been warmly welcomed by RNIB and put forward as a model of best practice for when other pedestrian crossings are implemented across the city.
"Wood Street has been transformed. Not only does the street look far better than previously with additional planting and a new road layout, but the engineering will also ensure that the road doesn't flood in bad weather and the new Bus Interchange will be able to operate efficiently, ensuring that buses are given priority over general traffic."
The new bus station was reportedly set to open in spring 2023 but this has passed and no opening date has been set. The bus station itself doesn't form part of the council work that won the award.
The award comes just days after an author travelling from Cardiff Central left a less than positive review of the nearby railway station and its surrounding area. Sharing updates of his train journey from Cardiff to Caersws, author Mike Parker took to Twitter to repport: "OK, had a ranty day after an awful train journey home from Cardiff. So, here's the crappy cherry on the cake. Cardiff Central is a beautiful station - how on earth have we let its surroundings be turned into such a hellish dystopia? It is the worst possible Croeso i Gymru.
"It's such a deeply inhuman space. Nothing there to lift the heart or gladden the soul. Buildings to chill you, street furniture to intimidate. The main design remit appears to be that it can be hosed down with the minimum of effort and disruption, like an animal enclosure."
Get Cardiff news straight to your inbox by subscribing to our daily newsletter here.
