River Park Project update: Coach park delayed due to flooding

The resurfacing works are part of the Salisbury River Park Project, a £27m Government-funded scheme to reduce the city's risk of flooding which began on August 12, 2022.

Regular parking on Exeter Street was suspended to allow coach drivers a place to stop but this brought with dozens of motorists who received parking tickets.

Numerous set backs, including a sewage leak and wet weather, have pushed the completion date back far later than the original expectation of all works finishing in December 2023.

The latest in the string of issues was caused by flooding after the River Avon burst its banks in January, leaving parts of the coach park submerged.

Read more: ​Scale of flooding took Salisbury River Park team by surprise

Contractors at KIER, which have been hired to do the project, are still waiting for the river levels to drop sufficiently before drainage works can be completed.

Aside from this, most other works can proceed "fully", according to KIER.

All the coach park bays have now been laid out and the rain garden in the middle is ready to be planted.

Bays have been laid out. (Image: KIER)

A KIER spokesperson said: "The coach park works have been hampered by extensive periods of high river flows and flooding throughout this year which, along with additional work due to unchartered utilities and ground contamination, has impacted on the progress of the ground works."

To catch up on programme, contractors are working longer days and at the weekend.

Their current aim is to have the coach park re-opened at the beginning of July.