Motorists are being advised to allow extra time for journeys as roadworks continue on Castle Street in Cardiff city centre.
Cardiff Council has issued an update confirming that work is continuing along Castle Street, including at the junction with Westgate Street.
The current improvements include upgraded pedestrian crossings, the removal of a traffic island and resurfacing of the carriageway, with the council saying the work is designed to improve safety and accessibility.
Drivers are being advised to allow additional time for journeys and use alternative routes where possible while the work takes place.
The latest works form part of a wider project to make the temporary road layout and cycleway on Castle Street permanent.
Main construction work began in February and is expected to take around 52 weeks to complete, with Knights Brown appointed by Cardiff Council to deliver the scheme.
Castle Street and the cycleway are expected to remain open in both directions throughout the main phases of construction, except when resurfacing work requires closures.
The existing number of traffic lanes on Castle Street will remain unchanged under the permanent scheme.
Plans include a fully segregated permanent cycleway built to Active Travel standards, carriageway resurfacing, upgraded footways and paved areas, changes to the bus stop area on Kingsway and North Road, and additional landscaping.
The scheme also includes measures intended to support improved air quality, such as enhanced bus infrastructure and green-roof bus shelters.
Castle Street’s road layout was originally changed after air pollution levels breached the European Ambient Air Quality Directive in 2018 and Cardiff Council was directed by the Welsh Government to develop a Clean Air Plan.
The temporary layout reduced the number of general traffic lanes from three to two, retained the westbound bus lane and introduced a two-way pop-up cycleway.
According to the council, nitrogen dioxide levels on Castle Street have since fallen from 45 µg/m3 to 29 µg/m3, bringing the street within required air quality standards.
Changes at the Westgate Street junction include the start of the new segregated cycleway, upgraded pedestrian crossings and paving, new yellow box markings and a dedicated cycle lane with its own traffic signals.
Further improvements are planned along Castle Street and at the High Street and Kingsway junctions, including new cycle parking, upgraded bus stops, pedestrian and cycle crossings, renewed paving and landscaping.
At Kingsway, plans also include a new buses-only right-turn lane onto Castle Street and North Road, as well as the removal of two trees which will be replaced with new planting nearby.
