Contract for Sauchiehall Precinct & Cambridge Street Avenue awarded

Published: 8 June 2023

The £5.641million contract for the next Avenue in Glasgow city centre to begin - the Sauchiehall Precinct & Cambridge Street Avenue - has been awarded to MacLay (Civil Engineering Limited) at a council committee today.

This Avenue will be part of wider network of new, attractive, accessible, safe, sustainable and easily-maintained routes throughout the city centre being delivered through the Avenues programme that are people-focused, encourage active travel and are more attractive to residents, workers, visitors and investors.

The Sauchiehall Precinct will connect to the Sauchiehall Avenue at Rose Street and stretch to West Nile Street, with the connecting Cambridge Street Avenue stretching to Cowcaddens Road.

The works on this project will deliver a significant improvement in the public realm on these two streets, with reconstruction of roads, pavements and footways, with new kerbing, traffic signals, 40 new street trees, rain gardens and street lighting.

Work on the Sauchiehall Precinct & Cambridge Street Avenue is expected to begin in September 2023, with completion in the summer of 2024.

Councillor Susan Aitken, Leader of Glasgow City Council and Chair of the Glasgow City Region Cabinet, said: "The Avenues programme - the biggest project of its kind in the UK - will not only bring a more attractive environment for everyone in the city centre, but improve connections around the area and encourage more walking, cycling and wheeling. This latest Avenue, on Cambridge Street and a stretch of Sauchiehall Street, is a key part of the network, and will bring particular benefit to a part of the city that will undergo tremendous change in the coming years."

Scottish Government Wellbeing Economy Secretary Neil Gray said: "I welcome progress in this important project, building on the first phase, which will encourage more walking and cycling and improve the experience of visitors and residents in Glasgow's main shopping and business district. The Scottish Government's £500 million funding for the Glasgow City Region City Deal is helping transform the city's streets and we are committed to supporting the city and the wider regional economy."

UK Government Minister for Scotland, Malcolm Offord, said: "These are exciting plans to transform Sauchiehall Precinct & Cambridge Street Avenue, and it's good to hear the works will soon be getting underway. This will create safe, attractive, and sustainable places for people to shop and visit, and bring businesses and investment to the area. The UK Government is investing £50m in Glasgow's most iconic public spaces as part of our £524m support for the Glasgow City Region Deal."

The £115million Avenues programme is funded through the Glasgow City Region City Deal, which is funded by the Scottish and UK Governments. The Glasgow City Region City Deal will see both governments provide £500million of funding for infrastructure projects.

More information on the Avenues project is available here.