Works to provide long stay coach parking at the Odd Down Park & Ride will begin next Monday, 16th April, adding 29 parking spaces within the north east corner of the site.
© Google Street View 2018
Alteration works will be carried out by North Midland Construction to separate the coach parking from the car parking area together with some modifications to the internal Park & Ride road as well as improvements to the pedestrian routes connecting with the roundabout.
The construction works will be phased to minimise disruption. so that the Odd Down Park & Ride will remain operational throughout.
The Council expects the new facility to be operational this summer. In the short term, coaches will continue to drop off/pick up in Bath city centre with the Odd Down site available for coaches to layover.
However, the longer term vision is for coaches that are bringing visitors to the city for more than a few hours to drop off and pick up from the Odd Down coach park, thereby alleviating congestion and supporting the council’s intentions of improving air quality in the city centre.
Councillor Mark Shelford (Conservative, Lyncombe), Cabinet Member for Transport & Environment, said: “The creation of coach parking at Odd Down forms the first part of a phased approach to delivering a long-term plan for management of coaches in Bath city centre.
“By providing a convenient and secure place for coaches to park up, Bath city centre will remain an attractive tourist destination while also alleviating coach parking in unofficial locations on roads around the city.”
Councillor Paul Myers (Conservative, Midsomer Norton North), Cabinet Member for Economic & Community Regeneration, said: “Delivery of this new facility is part of the Council’s plans to deliver Bath Quays whilst supporting the important visitor economy of the city.
“This work will ultimately lead to the development of Bath Quays a new space for home-grown and growing businesses. It is an important next phase in our work to secure more homes and high-value jobs in the city for future generations, helping us to meet one of our priorities.”
Coach parking was previously provided at Riverside Coach Park, however that site was reduced in size in 2016 and changed to drop-off/pick-up only, to allow essential flood risk mitigation works to be undertaken in order to protect properties from flooding and facilitate the regeneration of Bath Quays.
By implementing the new facility, the Park & Ride site will replace the current provision at Weston Island that has been under utilised by coach drivers, which has resulted in an increase of coaches parking in residential areas.
Providing a dedicated coach park with driver facilities should discourage drivers from parking on streets in unauthorised areas. In addition, the introduction of Traffic Regulation Order’s in areas of unofficial coach parking will allow parking enforcement officers to issue penalty notices and fines.
