New road in Sheffield city centre for shuttle bus set to launch this summer

Surrey Street and Leopold Street will be joined up to allow passage for a new ‘Freebee’ touring the city centre every 10 minutes.

A Sheffield City Council spokeswoman said: “It's currently being developed, the fine details are yet to be approved. Implementation will be in the summer.”

The update comes after The Star scored a victory in a campaign to bring back the FreeBee to boost city centre trade and help passengers affected by a traffic ban on Pinstone Street.

The authority announced in March a diesel bus would be in operation by the end of the summer, linking key destinations including Fargate, The Moor and Sheffield Midland Station. Government-funded electric vehicles would come later, if a bid were successful.

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Pinstone Street was closed to traffic in June 2020 and more than 30 buses were diverted to stops up to a quarter of a mile away, on Rockingham Street and Arundel Gate.

Surrey Street became a dead end. Leopold Street became a dead end in the Pinstone Street direction. The route in the other direction from Barker’s Pool remained open.

Following protests from passengers and businesses, Labour council leader Terry Fox called for Pinstone Street to be reopened. Eventually the new road was agreed.

The city centre shuttle bus will be free to people with a travel pass and a small flat fee to everyone else.

In addition to the new road, buses will be given priority on Arundel Gate in a bid to make journeys faster and improve air quality.

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