Swindon’s much-awaited Bus Boulevard – a remodelled Fleming Way - designed as a public transport hub intended to open up the town centre should be less than a year away from opening.

Council bosses are perhaps understandably wary of being too specific, given the project has been hit with several delays and was originally slated to open in 2024, but on a visit to the site it was clear that while there is much still to be done the majority of the work is finished.

And crucially, project manager Liam Hill-Davis said, all the work to move pies can cables under the road has been long completed.

Mr Hill-Davis displayed a thick cable of hundreds of copper communications wires and said: “There were four of these under the toad, but the new ducts Open Reach had made weren’t fit for purpose, so new ones had to be made.”

The project manager said  the delay was initially said to be between anywhere between six to 18 months, and while in the end, it was just over six months he said: “You can imagine how difficult it was for a project of this sort.”

Now most of the road surface has been laid. There are workers putting in planting at the turning circle at the railway station as well as contractors putting up some of the 23 bus shelters that will line either side of Fleming Way when it becomes the public transport hub for the town.

Mr Hill Davis said: “There will be solar panels on 17 of the shelters, the ones in the shadow cast by Debenhams and H&M won’t because there’s no point.”

There will be wireless phone charging stations in the bus shelters, which are extra wide to allow wheelchair users comfortable access.

The council’s cabinet member for highways Councillor Chris Watts said: “It was a bit of a shock when we took office in 2023 to find it wasn’t going to be finished this year.

At one point it looked like it was going to go on until the end of 2025, but we’ve worked really hard, and pressed utilities really hard, we got MPs and the secretary of state involved.

“I’m very glad to say we’ve got the project back within the budget envelope and it is on track to be completed at the end of the summer next year.”

Viewing what will soon be an easy access vista between the parade and the Kimmerfields district, council leader Cllr Jim Robbins said: “This is very much a programme we inherited, but when this is ready, there will be a number of benefits.

“It will open up the town centre and we’ll be able to develop the bus station and build a new theatre and entertainment venue, and it’s a crucial part in the redevelopment of this part of town.”

Stewart Dudley, the operations manager of Stagecoach West is looking forward to his company using the new hub. He said: “It’s been a while coming, but the customer experience when this is open will be so much better than using the current bus station.

“I hope it will make using public transport a much more attractive proposition for people, that they can get right to the heart of the town centre and it will be a much better experience.”

While Fleming Way will be closed to private motorised traffic when it re-opens, new cycle paths installed will link up the Eastern and Western Flyer routes, providing cycle paths from the White Hart pub to Mead Way in Westleaze.

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