Swansea Kingsway: Christmas parade hopes for city centre revamp

Local people have questioned the speed of paving work since it resumed

The bulk of a £12m overhaul of Swansea city centre will be finished in time for the Christmas parade, council bosses have said.

Work on the Kingsway project stopped in March when contractor Dawnus collapsed.

Alun Griffiths (Contractors) Ltd, called in to continue paving, said everyone was working to a deadline of mid-November.

Swansea Council said the work schedule was being reviewed, but the main elements would be completed by then.

A spokesman said: "Given the difficult circumstances the council was left in with the unexpected departure of Dawnus, work to redevelop the Kingsway is progressing well while we finalise the awarding of the new contract."

Swansea Council plans to run this year's parade itself after the 2018 event was branded a "shambles"

Sketty resident Alan Thomas said he felt the paving work could be quicker.

"When they had the other firm [Dawnus], they were travelling," he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

A spokesman for Alun Griffiths (Contractors) Ltd said there were many factors which affected the job, such as the weather and the presence of underground ducts.

It was not in the company's interest to prolong the work, he said.

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The paving slabs being removed near the top of Princess Way were laid by Dawnus about a decade ago to accommodate the now-departed bendy bus.

These slabs would be used elsewhere on the Kingsway project, a council spokesman said.

Swansea Council plans to run the Christmas parade itself this year, after last year's event was dubbed a "shambles" by disappointed families, who said it included just three floats.

The authority said this was down to the parade organisers, with no restrictions being imposed as a result of any roadworks.