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Gordon Street makeover to make a good first impression on travellers

July 3 2025

Gordon Street makeover to make a good first impression on travellers

Glasgow City Council has opened a consultation on public realm improvements at Gordon Street to improve the interface with Central Station.

Initial concepts envisage decluttering the busy transport hub with vehicles diverted to create an uninterrupted sheltered space below the station canopy.

Raised planters would mark the boundary of this pedestrian zone with a new crossing point extending to the taxi rank and a relocated bus stop. A one-way traffic system will also be introduced along with new new signage.

Councillor Angus Millar commented: “Transport hubs like Central Station are a key gateway to the city centre for residents, commuters and visitors, so there’s a real opportunity to improve the city centre experience for many by making Gordon Street more attractive, accessible and welcoming.”

Survey participants have until 24 August to make their views known.

18 Comments

Michael
#1 Posted by Michael on 3 Jul 2025 at 11:51 AM
Councillor Angus
You also need to the address the pollution of 24 hour drunks, beggars and junkies who dominate the entrance to the Central Station,
Its an intimidating place and getting worse
Never any sign of our Police Officers day or night, as they all sit in their big vans playing Pacman on their mobiles
Start addressing the real issues if you are looking to make a real opportunity to improve the city centre experience for residents, commuters and visitors
J
#2 Posted by J on 3 Jul 2025 at 12:03 PM
If in doubt, chuck a planter and a mural in and be done with it. I'd love if we could simply just appreciate what is there, reduce traffic and visual noise and give it a right good scrub. Outdoor benches? Do they know which city we live in? Alfresco blue lagoon sausage supper in the rain, anyone?
Chris
#3 Posted by Chris on 3 Jul 2025 at 12:26 PM
#2 You're talking as if a bench is some strange foreign concept to Glasgow. God forbid someone wants to sit outside while they wait for transport!
S
#4 Posted by S on 3 Jul 2025 at 15:01 PM
Look fantastic. I can envision myself taking inspiration from this street and applying it to my local scrapyard.
Pencho
#5 Posted by Pencho on 3 Jul 2025 at 15:09 PM
Pathetic.
moany git for real!
#6 Posted by moany git for real! on 3 Jul 2025 at 16:47 PM
Oh! For God's sake, just leave it alone, willya? All this bollocks about consultation, improving the offer, interfaces, transport hubs and key gateways, improving city centre experiences blah blah blah. Do you hear yourself?
Ther, just saved you 20M quid. Now go and spend it on something decent like a perr o gasometers. Its a legal obligation...
D to the R
#7 Posted by D to the R on 3 Jul 2025 at 21:40 PM
#1 ain’t half wrong re the dawn of dead frequenting central with little assistance from our authorities.
It says a lot about a city (country?) that will make a half-hearted attempt to tart up a street - with some new paving and a very yellow line it would seem. But there’s something else at play here. There’s a very unwelcoming attitude growing in Scotland. Everywhere you turn we’re being told ‘tae gonna no dae that’ - don’t park there, don’t vape on the train or leave yer stuff laying about the airport or it’ll get blown up. I wonder what message that sends to our international visitors?
Roddy_
#8 Posted by Roddy_ on 4 Jul 2025 at 00:52 AM
The image used above is clearly just conjectural. But at the same time quite telling in that it entirely ignores the really big picture in that part of the street, namely that it feels dangerous to cross from the station side to the Sainsbury's side. There needs to be traffic calming and a contiguity of surface that preferences pedestrians crossing. Perhaps the whole street should be the same surface - as is the practice in many European cities and cars and buses feel more like 'invited guests' that need to negotiate the pedestrian domain rather than pedestrians that need to negotiate a vehicular domain. Clearer cycle lane priority espec on Hope Street at Waterloo St needs addressed - coming off at Waterloo , crossing over to be confronted with a cycle lane that is one-way in the opp direction. Some seating might be appropriate here for older and infirm and mobility impaired, but not convinced by providing that much external seating as depicted.
I always enjoy the hustle and bustle of coming out of Central and being thrust into the city centre, but it is different on a bike or late at night. Better lighting and better passive surveillance coupled to more frequent policing would go a long, long way. Keeping the place clean goes a long way too and this needs to be one of the City's new priority areas for cleaning - it is, after all, the first impression that many, many visitors get of the place.
The townscape and architecture in Gordon Street is as good as anywhere in the City and would be so much better if we could just tame the traffic and knock off the rough edges a bit.
Moany old git
#9 Posted by Moany old git on 4 Jul 2025 at 06:40 AM
As a general point here, I keep on going back to the Muirhead Bone drawing that captures the urban essence of Gordon Street. I mean, it's a city ffs. Not some bourgeois affectation. Spare us the endless...
EM0
#10 Posted by EM0 on 4 Jul 2025 at 09:54 AM
A project started here and carrying all the way down Union St is needed....!
Georwell84
#11 Posted by Georwell84 on 4 Jul 2025 at 10:30 AM
Stop wasting money!
Roddy_
#12 Posted by Roddy_ on 4 Jul 2025 at 11:04 AM
@#8
Ah yes, the horse-drawn carriages and shoe-less urchins scampering about. Those were the days .....
The nostalgia of a pre-penicillin era - that's the ticket.
Roddy_
#13 Posted by Roddy_ on 4 Jul 2025 at 11:37 AM
Correction @ #9
Sue Pearman
#14 Posted by Sue Pearman on 4 Jul 2025 at 12:01 PM
I personally think that moving all the traffic away from the entrance is a positive move - vehicles on the far side, and pedestrians get full use of the canopy. The current situation with private hires/busses/hacks and other drop off's vying for space amongst the pedestrians under the canopy is confusing if not dangerous. Maybe some of the outside seating will be commandeered as a base for some of the beggars and/or their suppliers but it will also provide some welcome respite for travelers and those meeting at the station. Some greenery would also be very welcome, in a part of the city completely lacking any, though some larger, more permanent trees, might be better.
EGPHPhotos
#15 Posted by EGPHPhotos on 6 Jul 2025 at 09:20 AM
Agree, something is better than nothing.
End User #23123
#16 Posted by End User #23123 on 7 Jul 2025 at 08:09 AM
It would be great if we did something really interesting and radical here rather than rolling out the same tired and ultra-expensive, shoddily-executed, poorly-designed little redo's that are being dotted disruptively across the city.
E=mc2
#17 Posted by E=mc2 on 7 Jul 2025 at 13:42 PM
Not the most ambitious scheme....unfortunately.
Mark
#18 Posted by Mark on 8 Jul 2025 at 21:01 PM
Reading through the comments, it seems little has changed (or will change) in Gordon Street.

Muirhead Bone – "Horse-drawn carriages and shoeless urchins." And presumably a wee guy with a shovel and a bucket clearing up after the horses.

Today – "Drunks, beggars and junkies." Plus presumably a scaffie with a wee cart clearing up the disposable vapes, Tennents cans and McDonalds cartons.

Councillor Angus Millar – Has made all the rubbish disappear temporarily using his Photoshop magic wand tool! But it'll be back…

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