The work on the new St Margaret’s bus station and improvements to surrounding city streets needs another injection of cash.
The scheme looks set to go around £800,000 over budget before its completion, bringing it to the total cost of £14.3million, council documents have revealed.
Leicester City Council has approved the release of additional money to see the St Margaret’s Gatewayproject through to completion. According to a spokesperson for the council, the overspend is the result of increased material costs resulting from inflation and the pandemic, as well as tweaks to the scheme as it progressed.
He said: “The St Margaret’s Gateway scheme is a major capital project that has attracted funding of £10.5 million from Government’s Getting Building Fund. The project has coincided with huge challenges associated with the pandemic, inflationary pressures and well-publicised supply chain issues.
“These have been felt across the country and resulted in increased costs for materials and fees. We have also taken the opportunity to extend the scope of the highways improvements around the bus station to help minimise future disruption.
“All of this has resulted in additional costs of £800,000 over the 18 months of the project, bringing the overall budget to £14.3 million. The council had previously approved capital funds for just this sort of situation, acknowledging the likely financial impact of Covid.”
The new St Margaret’s station is thought to be the first carbon neutral bus station in the UK. It will be more modern than its 1980s predecessor, with an improved internal layout, a new cafe, better seats, modern toilets and real time digital passenger information.
Improvements are also being made to spruce up the surrounding streets, make them more pedestrian and cyclist friendly and improve links with the city centre. The city council spokesperson said the opening date for the station is set to be announced soon.
He added: “Despite these challenges, the bus station is on track for completion this summer. We are delighted that it has now received an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of A+, the highest possible, with a score of -4. This means the new building will be better than net zero carbon for its operational emissions.”
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