Paving work begins again in Cornmarket

Contractors have restarted work on Cornmarket Street paving after a Christmas break

The £3.2m repaving scheme, which first started in 2001, was halted before Christmas to ensure that festive trading would not be affected.

Contractors are back this week. Most of the scheme has now been completed and council leaders expect work to be completed by April 9.

An asphalt surface and York stone paving is now being laid, although the final top surface has not yet been chosen and will not be laid until the summer.

This work is only expected to take one night.

Eight surfaces have been trialled in Queen Street but a number of them have not been able to withstand constant use by buses.

David Robertson, the county council's executive member for transport, said: "I am very optimistic that the work will be finished on time, considering the good progress we made at the end of last year. "Some utilities are replacing pipes beneath the surface just round the corner in Queen Street, so we will try to do that work at the same time.

"We will keep traders fully informed about our progress and talk to them on a regular basis."

Mr Robertson said Jesus College would also be carrying out building work above Clinton Cards and Next.

In 2002, a scheme to repave the street with granite blocks was abandoned when cracks began to appear.

There were further delays last year when a network of underground cellars and utility cables was discovered beneath the street.

Bill McCardle, of city centre management company, OX1, said: "This has been on endurance test for traders, but they are now looking forward to putting the whole thing behind them.

"We expect the work to finish on time and there will be regular communication through newsletters between the council, its contractors and the traders.

"It will be nice to get the work out the way in the first quarter of the year. In the meantime, shoppers must realise that all the shops are still open."