Bath's Milsom Street closed for resurfacing ahead of high streets reopening

Bath's historic Milsom Street is due to receive a refresh ahead of lockdown restrictions being eased with the reopening of non-essential shops and the reintroduction of outdoor dining scheduled for next month.

The entire length of Milsom Street, together with a section of New Bond Street, will be resurfaced between Monday 29 and Wednesday 31 March, and heritage repairs will be carried out to replace missing kerbstones.

To minimise disruption the work will take place overnight between 7pm and 6am with Milsom Street closed to all traffic.

In preparation the parklets installed in Milsom Street last summer are being temporarily removed but will be returned in time for the planned reopening of stores on Monday 12 April.

The cycle stand at the top of Milsom Street will also be removed. It's being donated to a local school and will be replaced later this year to further increase cycle parking on the street.

Councillor Joanna Wright and Councillor Neil Butters, joint cabinet members for Transport Services said: "Milsom Street has not been resurfaced for a number of years and so it makes sense to carry out this work now to ensure that Bath's historic Milsom Street looks its best when stores reopen following lockdown.

"We've carefully planned the work to keep disruption to a minimum and we've written to businesses, landlords and residents to let them know what's happening.

"Over the past year we've made a series of public realm improvements in Milsom street, with the introduction of the parklets and restricted vehicle access, to enable social distancing and improve the shopping experience for visitors, increasing space for outdoor dining and art installations. We're planning further improvements and events for Milsom Street later in the year as we welcome people back to our city centre."

Motorists are advised that during the resurfacing work any cars parked within the road closure may be removed to avoid delays to the works.

Throughout the works diversions will be in operation and clearly signposted.