Background

The Prestwich area of Manchester has been undergoing significant regeneration over the past few years. Now that the high street area is more attractive to local shoppers, work needed to be done to improve traffic flow down the A56 and to enhance the overall pedestrian experience as the layout of the busy road acts as a barrier and makes it difficult for pedestrians to move around or cross the road.

Approach

A combination of Marshalls paving, drainage and kerb was used to improve the pedestrian experience and create clearly defined loading and parking bays along the route. The exposed aggregates in the Conservation X kerb complemented the skimmed surface of the paving to create a scheme of sophisticated elegance, setting it apart from the functional aesthetic of previous years.

A Pavedrain top was used on the scheme, which comes in the same concrete finish as the surrounding paving and was placed next to the paving to ensure that the surface water management requirements of the scheme were met without compromising the contemporary look.

Outcome

Bury Council commissioned a complete overhaul of the pedestrian areas in order to create a lively and attractive community hub making it more appealing for the public to visit.

The Prestwich regeneration project has also helped to improve pedestrian movement and accessibility which was a major problem before the regeneration work took place. The overall revamp on the high street has created more support for the local businesses and helped to attract additional public and private investment to the local area.