Decision details

To report the results of the consultation on the overall scheme and report any objections together with officer recommendations on the Traffic Regulation Order adverts.

(i) That the scheme is approved as shown in Appendix ‘A of the report’;

(ii) that the associated Traffic Regulation Orders as shown in Appendix ‘B’ of the report to facilitate the Grey To Green 2 project are made, subject to the necessary funding being secured and authorisation of the project through the capital gateway process; and

(iii) that all people who commented on the proposal be informed of this decision.

To ensure the Grey to Green Phase 2 scheme is in a position to be constructed subject to funding being secured.

Officers have considered alternative options for the closure of Castlegate and on balance consider the proposals to be the best solution to achieve all the predicted benefits of the scheme.

Officers have carried out an extensive consultation with all stakeholders and frontages and in the main there was a very positive view on the proposals, many of which saw the benefit of the regeneration project which tackled a number of issues in this part of the City Centre and provided better connectivity for people cycling and walking.

Overall Scheme

A more traditional reclamation and removal of redundant carriageway could be undertaken through the Streets Ahead programme. This approach however would simply replace like with like and at a similar maintenance cost and would not deliver the transformative benefits which have been outlined above. 

Option 1; Do nothing: The project team do not consider this to be a viable option. It would lead to further decline of the area, depressing property prices and sustainability of businesses which in turn would affect business rates and investment. 

Option 2; Private and voluntary sector to lead: Although this would reduce the initial cost to the Council, Castlegate is an area of market failure with most sites requiring de-risking. As a result there is little evidence of willingness of the private sector being prepared to spontaneously and speculatively invest on a sufficient scale to effect permanent change. The voluntary and charitable sector is not able to raise sufficient resources without the support of the public sector. Sheffield City Council (SCC) is also the main landowner in Castlegate. Only the Council can designate a Conservation Area or promote decommissioning of highways for other uses. For these reasons this approach has been rejected. In any event, piecemeal investment in highway improvement is unlikely to deliver the scale of change this project would.

Option 3 (preferred); Developing theGrey to Green 2 scheme through predominately SCRIF funding will give SCC control over the timescales of major interventions, transforming the corridor running from Park Square to Lady’s Bridge, improving accessibility and safety as well as the local environment in order to encourage new investment and jobs while providing the setting and timescales to allow the redevelopment of the Old Castle Market site.

Options to allow the closure of Castlegate to vehicles (except for loading)

To facilitate the closure of Castlegate to vehicles (except for loading) a number of options were discussed with SYPTE and operators to ensure buses could be re-routed to gain access to the Wicker and out of the City. The advantages and disadvantages of each option were considered during the development of the concept design. Due to the costs involved in turning Exchange Street back into a road it was felt by all of the project team that the best solution was to turn Blonk Street into a two-way street.

This solution as well as the additional work required to facilitate the change to the Ladys Bridge / Nursery Street / Wicker junction was traffic modelled with two options; 1) allowing general traffic to use Blonk Street towards the Wicker and 2) with a bus gate at Blonk Bridge to allow only bus access. The modelling results showed that if this route was open to general traffic it would become more direct and desirable than the current route through Castlegate, therefore attracting more traffic at peak times to use these roads to avoid the ring road. The modelling also showed that over time this traffic would begin to cause congestion issues on the ring road itself as volumes of traffic on the Wicker began to queue back onto Derek Dooley Way.

The modelling did however show that by providing a bus gate and deterring ‘rat running’ traffic towards Nursery Street, egress from the Wicker became a lot easier than the existing situation. The route to the Wicker from the south would still be possible by using the ring road.

The modelling results and costs associated with other alternatives have therefore led the design team to the preferred solution which has been consulted on (appendix ‘A’ and ‘B’ of the report).