Carver Street Sheffield: City Centre street to close every weekend at South Yorkshire Police's request

The decision was confirmed today after residents spotted concrete blocks at each end of Carver Street this morning, which will be moved to cut off the road from 9.30pm. Speaking to The Star earlier today, Councillor Mazher Iqbal said the move was at the request of South Yorkshire Police, in the interests of safety, this was later confirmed by the Council itself.

Tonight, Carver Street will be closed from 9.30pm to 5am, with an identical closure taking place on Saturday night and on all weekends until the New Year. As people take advantage of the nightime economy available in the city centre, it has been deemed safer to stop traffic flow through Carver Street.

This is only likely to disrupt travel for those using personal vehicles and taxis, after First and Stagecoach revealed they would not operate on Division Street, which routes access via Carver Street, on Friday and Saturday evenings. Stagecoach said in October, this decision was made due to the risk of pedestrians stepping in the way of buses.

Carver Street has been closed before, but for specific events expected to attracted large amounts of people to the city centre. Carver Street has previously been closed for the Tramlines festival and for Freshers Week celebrations in September. The Council closed the road in similar circumstances last year. Coun Iqbal did admit there may be a loss of parking spaces, due to the car park on Carver Street, but it was worth it in the interest of safety.