CHESTER’S Frodsham Street has been awarded the national Healthy Street of the Year Award 2019 at a ceremony in Glasgow.

Public realm improvement works in Frodsham Street were completed in April 2017, which led to a largely pedestrianised gateway to the city centre.

The street beat competition from London, Glasgow and Cardiff to win the award.

Councillor Karen Shore, deputy leader and Cabinet Member for Environment, Highways and Strategic Transport, said: “This is wonderful news. As part of Cheshire West and Chester Council’s significant investment programme for Chester, the street was transformed into a ‘shared space' where priority is shared between pedestrians, cyclists and motorists.

“The transformation of Frodsham Street included the creation of attractive shared ‘social’ areas to reduce the dominance of vehicles and make the street more people-friendly.

“The Healthy Streets Awards recognise the very best in the design and management of public spaces and transport systems that serve the needs of the people, their health and their happiness.”

Tom Roberts, principal transport planner at Mott MacDonald, who were the lead consultants on the project, added: “We’re delighted that Frodsham Street has been recognised with this award, which puts it right at the very top of UK street design.

"Footfall is up, traffic speeds are down - this is one we’re really proud of.

“It also sits next to another award-winning project at Chester Bus Interchange. The city is quietly becoming a beacon of great urbanism, so credit to Cheshire West and Chester Council for daring to challenge the norm.”