Cheapside Improvements

As part of its ongoing commitment to enhancing City streets, the City of London Corporation is starting public realm improvements on Cheapside from 29 June 2026. These improvements are designed to create a more pleasant environment for everyone to enjoy by widening the pavements on both sides of the street in the vicinity of the bus gate near Milk Street. This new space will be used to build new planters and seating for people to enjoy the space. We will be planting new climate resilient shrubs and plants in the planters to create a cooler and greener environment for residents, workers and visitors, and the road level will be raised up to make it easier for people of all ages and abilities to cross the street.

We will also be installing some historical information boards in the planters to tell the story of the history of Cheapside.

The works are estimated to take approximately 10-12 months to complete and will be delivered in phases, starting on the northern pavement before moving to the southern side. To ensure minimal disruption to the area, the pavements on both sides of the street will remain open throughout the entire construction period.

While there will be no permanent changes to traffic travelling through the bus gate, temporary traffic signals will be in place on Cheapside for the duration of the construction programme to maintain a safe working environment.

To enable the works and provide space for storing materials, three specific loading bays will be temporarily suspended at various times during the project:

• The loading bay on the northern side of Cheapside opposite Bread Street will be suspended from 29 June 2026 - Spring 2027.
• The loading bay on the northern side of Cheapside opposite Bow Churchyard will be half-suspended only from 29 June 2026 - Spring 2027. The other half will remain operational.
• The loading bay on the southern side of Cheapside (near Bread Street) will be suspended from 29 June 2026 - Spring 2027.

Vehicles will still have access to all other loading bays on Cheapside to service businesses and make deliveries, and there are additional locations for loading vehicles on Milk Street and Trump Street.

The construction is being delivered by the City Corporation's term contractor, FM Conway, during the following times:

• Monday to Friday: 8am - 4pm (noisy working between 8am - 11am and 3pm - 4pm)
• Saturday: 9am - 2pm (noisy working during these times)

Who to contact

The project is being delivered by FM Conway. If you have any questions about the day-to-day management of the works, please contact FM Conway on 01732 600 888.

If you require out of hours assistance, please contact the City Corporation's main switchboard at 0207 606 3030.

If you have a general enquiry regarding these works, please contact the Pedestrian Priority team.