Contractors working on the demolition of Pathfinder House have pulled out all the stops to halve the number of days traffic was disrupted on Huntingdon’s ring road. Businesses were very concerned about possible disruption to their Christmas trade but the ring road will be clear well before this coming weekend.
Although no ring road lane closures were ever planned for weekends traders were concerned that delays during weekdays could frighten shoppers away from the town. With the critical stages of the demolition almost complete the town is looking forward to a clear run into the last twelve shopping days before Christmas.
A bumper turnout is expected on the two remaining Saturdays and the district council will open the site of its old depot as an overflow car park. The old depot at Bridge Place, Godmanchester, is a five minute walk across the old river bridge to the High Street shops. The depot site will be lit early morning and late afternoon and Huntingdon and District Sea Cadets will be on hand to help shoppers make the most of the available space.
The demolition of the west wing of Pathfinder House is part of a four-year project to provide the district council with a replacement for its depot and town centre headquarters. Responding to concerns raised by traders Councillor Mike Simpson, whose portfolio includes responsibility for the new offices said; “I can understand the traders concerns and it is unfortunate that we have had to delay ring road traffic at all. The lane closure was essential for public safety and because of the overall length of the project we couldn’t be certain when it would have to happen. When we knew that it would be in the run up to Christmas we did everything we could to reduce the time it took to complete”.
Huntingdon Town Centre Partnership has lobbied the district council throughout to ensure that everything possible has been done to limit any possible harm done by the lane closure. John Nunn a High Street trader and vice chairman of the partnership commented; “The district council has done all that it can to help reduce the impact of the disruption on the ring road but I am delighted that it is now drawing to a close. However, from a trader’s perspective the timing was poor and the partnership looks forward to continuing the close working relationship we have developed with the council over the last few days through the rest of their redevelopment”.
The inside lane of the ring road was closed from the Old Bridge Hotel to St Mary’s Street between 9.30 and 4.30 on days when the upper floors of Pathfinder House were demolished. The first closure was on Friday last week and further closures have taken place on Monday and Tuesday this week. Traffic coming from Godmanchester has not been delayed but Riverside and Hartford Road have been quite congested.