Speaking about the scheme, Councillor Roddy McCuish, Chair of the Oban, Lorn and the Isles Area Committee, said: "We have taken the opportunity to add a few things into the scheme. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity; we have to make the most of it.
"What a difference! The town looks fantastic, best it has in years. It's giving Oban a new lease of life. People here are excited about their prospects. We hope to see new shops, offices and more importantly job opportunities in the future.
"We firmly believe that this is just the start of something – there are lots of exciting developments in the pipeline with work underway on the new Oban High School; Stafford Street being well used after the improvements there; design work well underway on the berthing facility and North Pier visitor centre not to mention the Lorn Arc initiative with work underway on the airport business park and other projects being developed in the background.
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"These really are exciting times for people in Oban. We are delighted to see the town looking so well. The council is focused on improving our area, bringing in new people, new businesses, new jobs. Schemes like this have a huge part to play.
"We talked to local businesses, Bid4Oban, the disability forum and other key partners and decided to add in a few extras on top of the original plans. It's sensible to take advantage of this opportunity, get the additional work done, all within our original budget."
By Tuesday 5th July Queen's Park Place will be completed, back to two-way traffic and the bus stops on both sides of the road will be fully operational. In addition to this the paving around the whole site will be complete and all bus shelters will be completed.
The additional work is set to be complete by mid-July.
Some of the big additions to the scheme include:
• three extra bus shelters, to Station Square
• enhanced street lighting scheme
• additional seating along the low wall next to the Whisky Shop on Stafford Street as well as paving over the planting area on the upper terrace, which was becoming increasingly difficult to maintain
• widening and extending the dropped kerbs to disabled parking bays
• extending the paving into Argyll Street
• additional strengthening work to the lighting columns along the sea wall
• Real Time Information (RTI) display boards in all five bus shelters to Station Square
• Foundation and infrastructure for large, Totem Style RTI board to be located on Station Square and will provide real time information for train, ferry and bus services.
(MH/CD)
