Work has started to ensure Truro’s main street is returned to its former glory “for the next generation”

For the third year running, work is being carried out on the city’s historic cobbled Boscawen Street.

However, while previous years have seen patching work and the removal and replacement of unsafe cobbles (or setts), the current extensive work by Cormac should see the road lasting for many years.

Mayor of Truro Bert Biscoe said: “There are probably a number of reasons why parts of the ‘underlay’ of Boscawen Street have subsided. Some is due to backfill works by statutory bodies (gas, water, etc); some to the reaction of the ‘underlay’ to water seeping between the setts; some due to downward pressure from vehicles.

Businesses open as usual - apart from those closed during lockdown

“A couple of years ago some patching was done, and, in the process, some investigation and surveying was also undertaken. With hindsight, we have been very lucky that Cornwall Council obtained some money from the government for works such as this, so the current project was undertaken.

“The preparatory work included tests at the Highways Labs at Scorrier to find suitable mixes, bondings and resins to provide a durable and resilient surface.”

A key design feature is to restore the ‘crown’ of the road, so that proper drainage can occur.

Works were suspended during the Covid-19 lockdown, but Cormac has now obtained consent to restart, and they hope to be finished in a matter of weeks.

Mr Biscoe added: “The current government timetable for phased re-opening and flexibilities seems to dovetail fairly neatly with this projection, so, by the time the businesses of the town centre are opening in earnest we should, weather permitting, have the bustling shared space at the hub of Truro’s trading centre clear, in as-new condition, draining well and looking great.

“All thanks to Cornwall Council and its contractor Cormac for working so diligently to restore Truro's bustling centre and giving it a lease of life which, if all goes well, means that the Boscawen Street surface will be good for the next generation, at least.”

Work has started on Boscawen Street's historic cobbles

Recently there have been calls for Boscawen Street to be pedestrianised.

Truro Day founder Paul Caruana wrote to every city councillor and other Truro leaders asking them to consider closing the city’s main street to traffic to help the city recover when it comes out of lockdown.

He said: “My fear, as is many others, is that following this virus, we don’t have anything in place to help businesses recover and move forward. Pedestrianisation, street café culture, benches and boxed shrubs can help transform our city centre. All it needs is a vision.”

The Mayor replied: “I suspect that, in the cold light of post-Covid debt repayment, rebuilding trade, learning to manage with a risk of a new outbreak, and carefully weighing up options, ideas and opportunities, building consensus (which is critical to finding funding), and being as sure as we can be that the town will have a robust trading future, the last thing we will want is a major and lengthy disruption to the town centre.

“More ideas, more evidence, more debate please.”