THE main county bus station near the heart of Ipswich is to close next month to allow it to be remodelled as part of the town’s new transport scheme.

The Old Cattle Market bus station near the Buttermarket centre will close on May 7 and is not expected to reopen until August.

It is part of the £21 million Travel Ipswich programme largely funded by the government, which is aimed at making it easier to travel around the town centre.

At the same time work on the Civic Drive/Princes Street junction is being stepped up in an attempt to ensure that it is fully open by the end of June deadline. Work on the junction, which is seeing the old Greyfriars roundabout and subways replaced by traffic lights and pedestrian crossings, has fallen behind schedule because of the cold winter.

Contractors from Skanska are now due to work at weekends as well as during the week to try to ensure that this major junction is completed on time.

Work at the bus station will include:

Reconstructing the station forecourt, carriageway, paving and footways.

Installing Real Time Passenger Information (RTPI) boards.

Improving the bus shelters.

Improving lighting and environment.

Drainage works.

During the closure, buses will use temporary bus stops in the area. Details will be posted on buses themselves and on the website www.suffolkonboard.com

Clive Wilkinson, Suffolk County Council’s Travel Ipswich project manager, said: “The improvements to the Old Cattle Market Bus Station will make it a much more welcoming and user-friendly place, changes we believe will encourage more people to use public transport.

“This is only one part of the much wider programme of works being carried out across the town – which includes improvements to Tower Ramparts Bus Station, the installation of a sophisticated traffic management system to make traffic flow better and the creation of new cycle routes.”

Once work on the Old Cattle Market bus station has been completed, attention will switch to the Tower Ramparts station, which handles bus services within the town.

That will also be closed for about three months while it is resurfaced and upgraded – with all the work due to be completed by Christmas.

The Travel Ipswich programme is due to continue until next year. As well as the changes to the roads and bus stations, new software is being installed to ensure traffic signals help to keep traffic flowing around the town and eliminate congestion.