Plans for the transformation of Sauchiehall Street are to be completed in time for Christmas, councillors have confirmed as work resumed following the Glasgow Fair holiday.
The £5.7m renovation, which includes road and footway reconstruction, rain gardens and planting new trees, paused for around two weeks between July 11 and July 28 to allow contractors to take the break.
The project, officially known as the Sauchiehall Precinct and Cambridge Street Avenue, was initially set to be completed this summer. Delays mean it is now forecast to be finished by the end of the year.
The council has previously said the project was delayed due to issues with “underground utilities” which led to the design being amended.
STV News
STV NewsRuairi Kelly is the council’s Convener for Neighbourhood Services and Assets.
He told STV News: “Now that the contractors are all back from the Glasgow Fair, we’re getting straight back into work.
“We’re still on target to be having the vast majority of construction work done by the end of the year. We’ll still have tree planting do after that, but that’s seasonal dependent.
“The upheaval has been an unfortunate aspect of doing renovation work in the area. We want to do that as soon as we can to get people back into the area for the Christmas period.
“Ensuring that there’s not upheaval and disruption and that we can welcome people back into the city centre and they can enjoy it as they should.”
The once internationally-renowned street is a shadow of itself – with abandoned department stores, gap sites and burnt-out buildings.
Scottish Retail Consortium’s deputy head Ewan MacDonald Russell said the area has been hit by a “vicious cycle” of store closures, a slump in footfall and the rise of online shopping since Covid.
Glasgow City Council
STV NewsHe said: “Since the pandemic, we know that towns and city centres across Scotland have fallen by about 10%.
“Glasgow has fared a bit better than the country as a whole, but it is actually underperforming quite significantly.
“We know why that is; customer behaviours changed. Shoppers are online a bit more, they are out of town a bit more.
“They are doing discretionary spending for things they want rather than need a bit less, particularly because of the cost of living crisis.
“Sadly in Glasgow, there is less opportunity for retailers. Lots of retail businesses have pulled their store estates back.
“Sauchiehall Street has been the casualty of a lot of those decisions.”
He added: “It would be great to see Sauchiehall Street back to what it was, to see Glasgow as a big shopping destination which it had been.
“As the economy rebalances in future years, hopefully we’ll see a bit of that.”
Work began on Sauchiehall Street in September 2023 as part of city-wide regeneration plans, funded by the Scottish and UK Governments through the £1bn City Deal infrastructure programme.
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