City centre - updates for St Mary's Boulevard

Highway works to help improve road, pedestrian and cycling safety, and support ongoing developments at Riverside Sunderland, are getting underway.

Works are on St Mary's Boulevard alongside St Mary's multi-storey car park and the Holiday Inn hotel.

The first section of works will see one of the three eastbound lanes next to the multi-storey reallocated to increase the width of the shared footway for pedestrians and cyclists. This is to help improve safety and reduce conflict between pedestrians and cyclists at the multi-storey's pedestrian entrance.

The box junction and traffic lights next to the multi-storey will remain. Work, beginning after peak journey hours on Monday 3 February, is expected to take around eight weeks to complete.

A second set of works is then scheduled on the westbound carriageway of the boulevard alongside the Holiday Inn. This is to introduce a taxi lay-by and improve pedestrian and cycle connectivity at the crossing point between Keel Square, City Hall and to the new Wear footbridge which is due to open this summer.

This second set of works is expected to also take around eight weeks and all works to be completed by June. Traffic management will be in place throughout the works to minimise any possible disruption.

Sunderland City Council's Cabinet Member for Environment, Transport and Net Zero, Councillor Lindsey Leonard said: "As we continue to deliver one of the UK's most ambitious regeneration projects at Riverside Sunderland, we're seeing more people living, visiting and working in our city centre.

"Footfall will increase significantly when Maker and Faber, the new footbridge, and Culture House open later this year and as development of the new Sunderland Eye Hospital, Vaux housing and Riverside Park continue at pace.

"We can also anticipate more pedestrians as we look forward to being a host city for the women's rugby World Cup.

"We're implementing these changes now to help encourage sustainable travel and improve safety for pedestrians, cyclists and other highways users.

"In addition, these changes support the delivery of our low carbon framework and City Plan that is creating a more dynamic, healthy, vibrant and smart Sunderland for all residents, businesses and visitors."