Planning permission has been granted to merge St Mary's Way and Livingstone Road in Sunderland City Centre to create a new tree-lined boulevard. This will make this route much more attractive and far better equipped to deal with the increasing levels of traffic this road will face when the Sunderland Strategic Transport Corridor is completed as a part of the new Wear Bridge and route to the Port in the East End. It's also to "prime" the Vaux site to attract private development as a new business district for the City Centre. The council think that private companies may be put-off developing Vaux if they have to shoulder the cost of the road layout improvements themselves; so Sunderland City Council are footing the bill themselves instead.

The boulevard, and the new Magistrates's Square on the site of the current roundabout, will sever the road link currently used by buses to access The Londonderry Hotel and Sunderland Empire Theatre.

The routes of these buses will be permanently changed as they become realigned to the new boulevard. Stagecoach service 8 City Centre - South Hylton, Stagecoach service 20 City Centre - Pennywell, Stagecoach services E1/E2/E6 South Shields - Sunderland; plus Go North East's X3, 9, 36 & 56 en-route to Park Lane Interchange. NexusBus 135/136 and Sunderland Connect 700 will also be diverted to travel along the full length of the new boulevard (701 doesn't currently serve Sunderland Empire Theatre / Londonderry Hotel anyway).

A dedicated bus lane will be included in the westbound direction, and will be served by routes 8, 20, E1/E2/E6, X3, 9, 36, 56 & 135. Only services 136 and 700/701 will travel in the eastbound direction, but these routes will still benefit from a dedicated bus bay and shelter.

For interest, I've enclosed a links to some images and a couple of site plans available from Sunderland City Council.

http://www.sunderland.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=6818

http://www.sunderland.gov.uk/Planning/St...cNo=695496&PageNo=1&content=obj.pdf

http://www.sunderland.gov.uk/Planning/St...cNo=695498&PageNo=1&content=obj.pdf

Advanced utility works are scheduled to start week commencing 14 January 2013. Details of the successful bidder to complete the works will be made in Spring 2013, with work on the new road starting in the summer. I'm led to believe that work on the new Magistrate's Square is supposed to start in Spring 2014 once the new boulevard opens, if my memory serves right.