CITY CENTRE'S BUS STOPS GO.

Byline: By DAVID JAMES South Wales Echo 

Bus stops, taxi ranks and disabled parking will all be moved from a busy city centre shopping street next week as the next stage of the mammoth St David's 2 development begins. Workmen will dig up part of The Hayes as they continue a nine-month operation to re-route underground cabling and water, electricity and gas pipes away from the redevelopment area.

That means the road and the top of Hills Street will be closed to most traffic from Monday - with shoppers and pedestrians, who will still be able to use the area, being warned disruption is inevitable as work on the first phase of the pounds 535m scheme continues.

The Hayes' bus stops will move to a temporary home on Hayes Bridge Road, the taxi ranks will be switched to Bridge Street and new disabled parking spaces are being set up in nearby Wharton Street.

In mid-November, work in The Hayes will be suspended until mid-January to ease Christmas shopping, by which time the work should be almost finished.

Similar trench work on Bridge Street, Hayes Bridge Road and Bute Terrace, which began in July, has almost been completed and the operation is now also focusing on Mary Ann Street.

The end of this phase, which will concentrate on the rest of Hills Street and Barracks Lane after Christmas, is expected at the end of next April.

'We have tried to relocate everything to the closest possible site, as that is a key issue for the public,' said project co-ordinator Matt Holman.

'Delivery vehicles to The Hayes' retailers will still have access, while we are looking to keep the public as well-informed as possible and disruption to a minimum.

'We know it is difficult and an inconvenience to some - The Hayes is a sensitive area and very much in the public eye - but we will not be doing any work or affecting people over the Christmas period.'

Once this phase is complete, it will clear the way for the developers, the St David's 2 Partnership, to begin wholesale demolition work.

The scheme, which has retail giant John Lewis as its anchor tenant, is due to be completed in spring 2009.: St David's 2: The Facts:The plan includes, among other things: Up to 150 new stores - with top international retailers being lined up. A planned extension to the existing Debenhams store. More than pounds 26m spent on four major public spaces. A proposed new central arcade running from Hills Street through to Bute Terrace. A John Lewis store with a three-storey glass-fronted section. A new, state-of-the-art library. 3,000 parking spaces.