Works to create six new on-street, short-stay coach parking bays will begin in Bath on October 5 in advance of the closure of the Riverside Coach Park.
The coach park is scheduled to close at the end of October to enable the development of Bath Quays North, Bath & North East Somerset Council’s flagship regeneration project which will create a new business district, providing much needed high-quality office space and creating hundreds of new jobs.
In preparation for the development, the council carried out a detailed study and consultation in 2017 on the options for coach parking and drop-off/pick-up facilities in the city.
A new coach park has already been provided at Odd Down Park and Ride site, with 29 spaces for coaches to layover once they have dropped off in the city centre.
The council will now be introducing three new on-street, short-stay coach parking bays in Pulteney Road and an additional three bays in Royal Avenue. These are in addition to the current drop-off/pick-up facilities in Terrace Walk, North Parade and James Street West.
As a result, existing residents’ parking bays on Royal Avenue will be altered and relocated slightly further into Royal Victoria Park and 12 daytime pay and display/residents parking spaces lost on Pulteney Road.
Works to line and install signage for the new coach bays will begin on Monday, October 5 and will be completed within one week.
Councillor Joanna Wright, joint cabinet member for Transport Services, said: “We consulted on the options for coach parking in the city and we listened to what people told us. Coach operators now use our long stay facilities at Odd Down, but we do need to ensure we have enough drop-off and pick-up points for them to use near the city centre.
“The two new sites are within walking distance of key visitor attractions and, as they are on the periphery of the city centre, will help to limit coach movements within the centre itself. Looking to the future though we do understand that we need to balance the needs of residents, businesses and coach operators. We apologise to residents for any disruption while the works are carried out next week.”
The new coach parking bays will operate between 8am and 7pm and parking remains unrestricted outside of these times, as per the existing pay and display/residents’ parking bays in the area. Waiting time will be limited to 20 minutes (no return within 1 hour), except for two bays on Pulteney Road, which will be limited to 90 minutes waiting (no return within 3 hours).
