Revamp work in Northampton town centre '˜will be finished before Christmas' council pledges ahead of second phase

The second phase of the work to enhance the footpaths and roadway will get underway on June 21, the council has said.

A spokesman said the work will be carried out in the stretch between Castilian Street and St Giles Square.

“The improvements will include new paving, lighting and hanging baskets in the street. At the end of the project, a new road surface will also be laid down,” he said.

“While improvement work takes place, the road will be closed to traffic at Castilian Street, where traffic will be diverted from St Giles Street down Castilian Street (against the usual flow of traffic) and into Derngate.

“The stretch between Hazelwood Road and Castilian Street will remain open however, and on street parking will still be available in that stretch. Road users are advised to check on closures and diversions and carefully follow the road signage around the area,” he added.

“Businesses in the street will all be operating as normal throughout the works and the street will be fully open to pedestrians throughout, with work taking place first on the south (Post Office) side of the street, and then the north side.

“This phase of work will be completed in time for the Christmas shopping period. Further phases of work on Fish Street and St Giles Terrace will take place in 2017,” he added.

Councillor Tim Hadland, cabinet member for planning, regeneration and enterprise, said: “We worked closely with the businesses in St Giles Street throughout the first phase of work to maintain business as usual and we finished ahead of schedule.

“This second phase will inevitably mean some disruption to businesses but shoppers and pedestrians will be able to access the street throughout the work, and we will keep in close touch with businesses so that we cause as little disruption as possible.”

A detailed plan of the whole programme of works can be seen at www.northampton.gov.uk/StGilesSt