Extra Spaces for People Gained on Montrose Street

Work starts tomorrow to widen footways on both sides of Montrose Street between George Street and Cathedral Street, as part of the council's Spaces for People programme which is providing extra space for physical distancing to protect public health and suppress a resurgence of COVID-19.

On-street parking will be suspended in the affected areas, with extra space for people made available by repurposing the immediate road space usually occupied by parked or stationary vehicles. Disabled bay parking provision at this location where applicable, remains unaffected.

Spaces for People

Supported by funding from the Scottish Government and administered by Sustrans Scotland, Spaces for People is introducing temporary infrastructure measures across Glasgow to provide extra space for people to walk, wheel or cycle during COVID-19.

Short-term measures across our city centres and neighbourhoods are seeing footways widened at pinch points to ease pedestrian movement and make it easier to access businesses, community facilities and public transport hubs. Consideration is also being given to the positioning of temporary strategic cycling routes to highlight cycling as an attractive, viable and long term commuting choice.

For an overview of all the measures implemented to date, see here.

City Centre Progress

Work completed so far as part of Spaces for People includes footway widening around Glasgow Central Station High and Low Level entrances to provide additional queuing space, as well as footway widening and road closures in and around George Square.

A bus/cycle/taxi gate has been added to George Square (south) and South Frederick St (north), and a bus/cycle/taxi lane on Cochrane Street, to create sustainable transport corridors. This work was completed in tandem with pavement widening on Hope Street, Union Street and Bath Street and the build out into the road of temporary bus boarders to ensure continued accessibility onto and off, local service buses.

Other initiatives in the city centre to ease pedestrian movement include traffic light automation which removes the need to touch the button to prompt the green man to display.  The automated traffic lights will also where appropriate, be set to either minimise pedestrian waiting time or increase the duration the green man is displayed; with both adjustments made where possible.

Full details of temporary City Centre projects already in place, and ongoing can be found here.

Schedule of Work

In order to complete the above works, Montrose Street will be closed to northbound traffic (between George Street and Cathedral Street) on Tuesday 15 September 2020 from 06:00hrs.

This temporary travel infrastructure will be in place from 15 September 2020 for a minimum period of 10 weeks, and reviewed in line with the Scottish Government's COVID-19: Framework for Decision Making - Scotland's Route Map through and out of the crisis.