Coming soon, two huge dual-carriageways cutting Burngreave off from the rest of Sheffield. Stranded pedestrians will soon watch cars speeding miles out of their way on a pointless one-way system until they hit the new bottleneck a mile down the road.
The Wicker and Spital Hill could become interesting high streets. However the latest vision seems to be to turn them into slip roads and traffic islands. Personally I’m not enthusiastic.
— Martin Currie
Work is well under way on Stage 2 of the inner-relief road. When completed, a new dual-carriageway will cross Spital Hill above The Wicker Arches, joining Saville Street to Corporation Street and Penistone Road.
Most of the buildings on Spital Hill below Forum House will be demolished during the work which is due to go on until the middle of 2007.
A second new dual-carriageway will cross The Wicker, stretching from Corporation Street to ‘Cutlers Gate’. This will complete the section, opened in 2000, that already links the Parkway to The Wicker. The Wicker will be closed to cars travelling into town when the £56 million Government-sponsored scheme is completed.
The Nags Head Pub and the derelict former Wigfall’s offices have been demolished, the first of 40 mostly older industrial buildings due to go. Old mine works around the Wicker Arches have been filled in so a rail bridge can be built over the new ring road. Work is expected to affect Spital Hill towards the end of programme.
You can see detailed maps of the new roads, read about how the building work is going and see how it will affect traffic at www.sheffield.gov.uk/out--about/irr.
by Mark Lankshear
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