Powis Street upgrade in Woolwich looking close to completion
A major upgrade to much of Powis Street in Woolwich town centre is nearing the finish line in parts as the multi-million pound project bounced back from contractor issues.
A visit in recent days showed seating in place along with landscaping and other street furniture.
It’s looking good. Curved benches around retained trees along the street are a highlight. Elsewhere seating is located above granite slabs.
I wonder if these are repurposed ones seen in Abbey Wood’s recent upgrade which were removed shortly after installation?
Let’s hope it also lasts a bit better than the Abbey Wood example which saw patches of tarmac appear along the street.
A concern in Woolwich that a hefty amount of paving space is taken up by street furniture which could hamper pedestrians in an area of high footfall.
As covered last week major new through-routes will feed into the street from new developments comprising thousands of residents.
Could we see desire lines start to appear across the landscaped areas?
One problem is Woolwich is basic maintenance has long been poor both in times of healthy local government finances and bad.
Today is bad. Street cleaning cuts are in motion and there’s no guarantee that won’t go further.
Potential funds to maintain
Earlier today I was reminded of Business Improvement Districts as they reach 20 years of operation. They’re common in many town centres and see businesses pay fees into a body to promote town centres and invest in events, cleaning and the like.
Not a bad tool in a time of cuts but Woolwich doesn’t have one unlike Bexleyheath, Stratford, Sidcup, Bromley, Brixton to name a few.
Funding isn’t huge but it all helps and certainly in the current financial environment for local authorities. Sadly I’ve never heard of anyone in Greenwich Council encouraging such a move.
If we look at the range of national businesses in Woolwich it should be possible with Premier Inn, Travelodge, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Marks and Spencer and many more.
Alas it doesn’t exist so it’ll be down to the council to maintain. With a fair bit here to like let’s hope it stays in decent shape.
However if you’re a fan of the 1990s upgrade you’ll find that remains to the west as work don’t extend that far down.
And for those who want to glimpse the 1980s upgrade some parts of that still live on near Lidl as well as near the old Granada cinema close to the ferry.
TfL want to dig up the stretch from Hare Street to Macbean Street to create a 2 way cycle lane.
The landscaping has reduced the amount of pedestrian space.
What a crazy idea and waste of public money.
Two lane cycle path along here is madness. It’s already far too busy to cycle down at any pace, and adding a lane isn’t going to make that easier as people will just walk over it. They should’ve just continued the cycle lane along the A206 instead of meandering through the town centre.
It’s been over a year! Since your last article in November 2023 “Woolwich town centre’s major revamp on Powis Street begins”. That’s two Christmases of disruptions!
Yep the collapse of the first contractor hasn’t helped but I have to say communication from Greenwich council depts to councillors in the form of reports has been poor. I follow other projects like this elsewhere in London and cllrs get far better info, costings and timescales in other boroughs.
Then again its the same departments and officers putting out a lack of info that also keep installing flawed public realm projects across Greenwich borough the authority cannot look after nor do they much in the way of foresight.
A waste of public money. Who will be maintaining those hundreds of plants? Nobody. Who just chucks mud up tree bases to finish a project? Looks terrible. The bins are too small for a town centre and fag butt stained already & don’t get me started about the colour of the flooring. I could design a town centre better & easier to maintain. When the photo ops are done, this will be an eyesore within 2 months. I’d love to be positive, but this is bad job.
Totally agree about the bins – why do councils insist on putting tiny domestic size bins around.
Yes they’re not glamorous but it’s better than having rubbish overflowing as they’re never emptied often enough. Same thing happens in Southwark.