Congleton town centre to get a ‘major facelift’

Work to transform Congleton town centre with a new public realm scheme will begin soon.

The work will see improved street lighting, new street furniture installed, and ornamental planting and fresh paving laid, as well as an enhanced town centre environment with road junction improvements in key locations.

Cheshire East Council’s highways teams are to start the works on or after Monday 24 July and will last five months. Careful planning will be put in place to minimise disruption and reduce any impact on businesses.

Essential improvements to the traffic lights on Mountbatten Way at Worrall Street will also be carried out.

Work will take place during weekdays and at weekends, and will involve a series of road closures at a number of junctions for through traffic only. Essential access for emergency vehicles and pedestrians will be maintained.

Shoppers will have wider footways at the Swan Bank junction, new paving through Duke Street and Bridge Street, and attractive road surfacing at the junction of Swan Bank, Market Street and High Street.

David Brown, cabinet member for highways and infrastructure, said: “This investment in Congleton will transform the town centre for shoppers and visitors, ensuring it will continue to meet the needs of businesses, while retaining its market town character.

“We have consulted with the community on these changes and it is now time to put the improvements in place.

“We are confident that, despite the temporary inconvenience this may cause, the overall scheme and the new features it introduces, together with a sense of place, will find favour with the town and our residents.

“I would like to add that this will not be a shared-space scheme. We have consulted with the blind and partially sighted and with organisations representing other disabilities and there are no plans to do away with kerbing.”