ANOTHER section of Blackburn town centre has been sealed off and bus stops are being moved as construction activity on the £33 million Cathedral Quarter and new bus station starts in earnest.

Two key southbound bus stops on Railway Road outside the Adelphi will be relocated to accommodate the works.

The remainder of the pavement opposite alongside the Boulevard has been closed with a pedestrian walkway cordoned off on the highway.

The footpath alongside the Cathedral to Darwen Street has been closed up from Railway Road to the passageway between the Yorkshire bank and the Rovers store with pedestrians required to use Church Street or Jubilee Street.

The bottom of the Old Market site is screened off as diggers start work on excavations for the £5 million bus station development.

Traffic has been reduced to one-lane controlled by temporary lights outside the railway station near the junction with Bridge Street and Jubilee Street as preliminary work on the transport mini-interchange starts.

From May 12, the two bus stops outside the Adelphi will be moved to Salford, outside the former Pitchers bar.

Services affected are: 1 to Ewood, Darwen and Bolton; 2 to Royal Blackburn Hospital, Lower Darwen and Darwen;12, 12A and 12C to Highercroft; 223 to Belmont; Service 23 and 23A to Audley, Shadsworth and RBH; Service 244 to RBH, Guide and Rawtenstall; and M65 to RBH, Burnley, Nelson and Colne Because of the work under the railway station canopy, motorists are advised to use the back entrance for dropping off and picking up.

Pedestrian access is unaffected. Blackburn with Darwen council regeneration director Brian Bailey, said: “We appreciate people’s patience while the Cathedral Quarter project is underway.

“It is a major regeneration scheme in the centre of the town, which will create hundreds of jobs, and we will make every effort to keep disruption to a minimum.

“The new bus stops on Salford will enable people to get to the Mall, Market and Morrisons more easily and waiting facilities will be improved with bus shelters.

“The Cathedral access has now been closed to allow culvert works to progress down the Boulevard to the point where it joins Railway Road.”