Braintree town centre: Work resumes on £2.95m pedestrianisation scheme

Braintree Council has appointed a new contractor to finish the remaining stages of the project.

The work will see Market Place, Great Square and the High Street transformed into a new public space with one-level paving, street furniture, CCTV, Wi-Fi hotspots, trees and new seating areas.

Works in each area will be completed in a phased approach starting off with the south of the High Street, from Timpson to Patrick & Menzies Opticians.

Braintree town centre

So far, the scheme has seen the installation of new disabled bays in Bank Street and the creation of a new southbound bus and cycle lane on Fairfield Road.

Corporate director for growth at the council said: "We are pleased we are now able to progress with the final stages of construction work across the town centre as part of this scheme.

"We are working with the new contractor to provide a programme of work that will reduce the impact of the delay to the completion of the project as a whole and we are confident that we will be able to move across the town centre at pace.

"All being well we can all look forward to the project being completed by the summer which will see a fantastic new and safer public space for future events, and play a key part in our town centre bouncing back from the impacts of the pandemic."

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Residents are being urged by the council to follow the signage on display for their safety as well as others.

The multi-million pedestrianisation scheme is part of a major investment in the town centre alongside the £30million Victoria Square development.

It hopes to modernise the town centre to bring more people into the centre, boost trade for existing local businesses, but also attract new businesses into Braintree.

To view the full timeline of schedules works go to braintree.gov.uk/pedestrianisation.