Crewe town centre car park and bus station officially opened

Crewe’s new multi-storey car park and bus station have officially been opened – marking the end of a two-year construction project to deliver new modern transport facilities for the town.

The 389-space car park came into use first thing yesterday and follows the opening of the new bus station, which has been welcoming passengers since May.

During a short formal opening event for both facilities, Cheshire East mayor Councillor Marilyn Houston, ward councillor for Crewe West, said:

“These two facilities are the latest steps in the town’s ‘regeneration journey’.

“This site has been the location for Crewe’s bus station since the 1950s. The previous bus station had become very dated and was no longer meeting the needs of local people.  

“Cheshire East Council has been working over several years to address this and to bring together ambitious plans for the town centre’s regeneration.

“The economic challenges of the last few years have meant it’s not yet been possible to move forward with all these plans. “

However, Cheshire East Council and its partners have been committed to making sure the foundations are in place, so that people have modern transport facilities that provide safe and attractive places to start their visits to the town centre.”

Councillor Michael Gorman, deputy leader of Cheshire East Council and chair of its economy and growth committee, said:

“The multi-storey car park gives us the capacity so that we can free up some of our other car parks and move forward with a range of exciting development projects over the next few years. 

“Many of these are supported by funding from the Towns Fund or Future High Streets Fund, totalling £37m.

“These projects will create more reasons for people to visit the town centre and provide them with a better experience. “A great example is Oak Street Car Park, which closed recently so that construction work on a fantastic new state-of-the-art space for young people can begin.”

During the construction of the bus station and car park, the council’s development partners – Peveril Securities, Cordwell Property Group and Bowmer + Kirkland – have been offering support to the local community, including donating more than £28,000 to local charities.

Malcolm Wilcox, of Cordwell Property Group, said:

“We are proud to have delivered for Cheshire East Council and the residents of Crewe and its surrounding area one of the finest bus stations and car parking facilities in the North-West.

“From the impressive living ‘green walls’ on the car park, to the large piece of public artwork that sits above the bus station and celebrates the town’s past, present and future, these transport facilities provide a fantastic new focal point to the town centre.”

Mr Wilcox added:

“We are also proud that we have been able to support Crewe’s communities by donating time, money and skills to local causes and projects.

“This has included a total of 1,100 hours spent upskilling local people not in education, employment or training.”

The council continues to explore ‘meanwhile uses’ for the remainder of the Royal Arcade development site, which borders Victoria Street and Queensway.

Later this year, the land will be grassed over, a new footpath will be installed – linking the car park and bus station with the corner of Victoria Street and Queensway – and the current safety fencing will be replaced with lower-level fencing, which will allow access to the site by the public.