Sales plummet as Wolverhampton city centre roadworks persist

The £1.6 million roadworks clogging up the city centre have been with us since last summer, and traders today revealed they have experienced an unprecedented drop in business.

At historic jewellers TA Henn in Princess Street, owner John Henn said he had been forced to lose two positions as a result. Other shopkeepers said the council was wasting money by overhauling the road layout to make the city centre more pedestrian friendly.

Mr Henn said he was frustrated at the lack of movement on the project, adding it had caused the longest sustained drop in sales in his 34-year history of running the store.

The latest phase of the work sees Princess Street, Garrick Street and Market Street being torn up and revamped in a bid to pull in more shoppers and visitors.

"We have seen quite a consistent drop in sales and walk-in traffic since the roadworks started," Mr Henn said.

"The street is completely impassable and it is making life a little bit complicated.

"Passing traffic is down significantly in the past four or five months.

"We had to make one person redundant in December as a direct result of a drop in trade from October and another person left us at the end of January who will not be replaced until we see an improvement in trade.

"I think the work is progressing in inverted commas, I am not overly optimistic about what its results will bring but obviously hope it will be fantastic for the city.

"We are hoping that the area will be looking nicer by the end of it all but this street seems to have a lot of anti-social behaviour issues that would have to be resolved before you could call it 'pedestrian friendly'."

It is expected the work will all be over by September.

While Princess Street is closed, the direction of one-way traffic is temporarily being reversed along the pedestrianised section of Queen Street, King Street and part of Dudley Street.

Work to upgrade traffic lights at the junction of Market Street and Bilston Street, and the junction of Garrick Street and Snow Hill, is hoped to be carried out in the next few months.

Jas Dhillon, who owns the Home Kitchen Cafe, said she felt that the council was pedestrianising the wrong area of Princess Street.

She said: "The roadworks have caused us a lot of lost business. For one, there is nowhere for people to park anymore and also people don't walk by as much as they used to – people aren't really using the street because of the roadworks.

"I am hopeful that the council know what they are doing and we will benefit from this eventually but I can't see it at the moment.

"I have always thought pedestrianising the area by our cafe and the Billy Wright pub would be better.

"I understand wanting to modernise the area but if they are going to put benches and places for people to gather on the street, surely doing that by a cafe and a pub would be better than by a betting shop or a jewellers. We haven't had to lose anyone yet but there is a chance some of our staff may have to have their hours cut."

The work to make the city centre more pedestrian-friendly first started in the summer. There was then a break over the winter before it restarted at the end of February.

Harsharon Kaur, who works at the Emi Gold Beauty Salon on Princess Street, said: "The roadworks have affected business because they are right outside my shop and that doesn't create a welcoming environment for people. I am not overly excited about how the work will change things when it is done. I think the money could be spent elsewhere on actually building up the city centre rather than extending the roads."

Councillor Peter Bilson, the council's regeneration chief, said that the aim of the work is to make Wolverhampton an 'all form of transport accessible city', ensuring it is safe and easy to get around for everyone.

He said: "Inevitably some are concerned about the disruption that will be caused as a result of the works but most are satisfied that once the work is complete they will have a better experience as a business and it will also be better for their customers."