Glasgow takes its green space seriously with more than 90 parks and gardens open to the public. Now new plans hope to transform Byres Road with the addition of parklets, mini public seating areas to improve the street for pedestrians.
The new blueprint for Byres Road includes council plans to reclaim car parking spaces on one of the busiest thoroughfares in the West End and include public art installations alongside spaces for locals to linger for a while.
Students and the tweedy inhabitants of the Byres Road strip will soon have specially commissioned murals to gaze at and new civic space to enjoy.
It will mean people like this guy will have somewhere other than the middle of Byres Road traffic to play their guitar.
The new report proposes capitalising on the popular areas around Ashton Lane and Glasgow University that have become open-air places to congregate during the day or at night, particularly over the summer.
The project will aim to give a boost to local businesses and attract more visitors to the area, which already boasts some of the city’s most popular restaurants and bars.
The recommendations will be put out to a public consultation starting next month.
It follows a trial of parklet installations on Sauchiehall Street late last year.
Some plants, a place to sit & a taste of the future: first #Sauchiehall parklet is outside @CCA_Glasgow for a few wks pic.twitter.com/X8bswqxx8j
— Sauchiehall District (@sauchiehall2015) September 28, 2015
The council will work with the University of Glasgow who are planning their biggest project since relocating from the city centre in the 1870s as they redevelop the site of the former Western Infirmary.
The plan will include joint development of a park near Byres Road with more artworks, greenery and an events space.
If the report is approved then it will have implications for West End commuters with reduction of on-street parking, more cycle lanes and pavement-widening.
Glasgow, Glasgow, Glasgow City G12, UK