Two Newquay car parks go free as Cliff Road works continue

If you’ve been giving Cliff Road a miss since the diggers arrived, there’s now a cheaper reason to head back. From this Sunday (1 November), two car parks a short walk from the works will cost nothing to use, and they’ll stay that way until the end of March.

It’s one of several outcomes Newquay BID says it has secured on behalf of traders, following meetings with Cormac and Cornwall Council about the Mid Cornwall Metro works on Cliff Road and Station Parade in Newquay. The BID shared the news in a business update on Facebook.

📷Resurfacing work at Newquay Railway Station car park. Credit: Cornwall Council

Where you can park for free

Albany Road Car Park will be free to use from 1 November until 31 March. Tolcarne Road Car Park will be free all day over the same period. Tolcarne Road is also where the main site compound for the works moved to at the end of September.

Improved signage is on the way to help visitors find parking, and to remind them that the businesses on Cliff Road are still open.

There’s some smaller-scale help closer to the works too, according to Cornwall Council’s project page. Oakleigh Terrace has eight new on-street spaces, free for up to an hour. Free parking at Newquay Railway Station car park, which has been resurfaced this year, has gone up from 20 to 30 minutes. And outside Wetherspoons there are three new disabled bays, with the free window stretched from 30 minutes to an hour.

📷New road markings next to Newquay station. Credit: Cornwall Council

What else came out of the meetings

Cornwall Council will be pushing the message that Cliff Road is open for business, with videos and social media content. Cormac is reviewing the works programme to look at options for speeding things up, and the traffic management and signage around the site are being looked at again too.

Businesses will also get regular updates, with fortnightly drop-in sessions planned so they can raise concerns and keep track of what’s happening.

Newquay BID described the outcomes as important steps forward and said it would keep working with the council and Cormac so the business community’s concerns are heard. It thanked the Cliff Road and Station Parade businesses that have come to meetings and shared their experiences, saying their feedback has made a difference.

Any business on Cliff Road or Station Parade that hasn’t received a copy of the meeting minutes can ask Newquay BID to send them over by email.

📷Newly marked bays in the station car park. Credit: Cornwall Council

Where the works are up to

The scheme covers Cliff Road between Oakleigh Terrace and Edgcumbe Avenue. It brings a new cycle route, wider footways and public realm improvements, a new pedestrian crossing, kerb and road layout changes, drainage and utility work, then fresh surfacing and road markings. It follows an earlier phase between Edgcumbe Avenue and Narrowcliff, which is now complete. Completion of this phase is targeted for late spring 2027.

Cliff Road is currently one-way, with traffic heading out of the town centre, and there’s a signed diversion for vehicles going in. Pedestrian access is being kept open throughout.

Updates are posted on Cornwall Council’s Newquay active travel page, and questions can go to the project team on 0300 1234 222 or [email protected].

The most recent update, from 19 October, says the bus stop kerb between Oakleigh Terrace and Station Parade has been removed and extended towards Station Parade, and trenching has started on Oakleigh Terrace for Openreach ducting. Utility diversions for Openreach and National Grid come next. Meanwhile, on the stretch of Cliff Road between the Tolcarne Road and Edgcumbe Avenue junctions, the team is investigating a high-voltage underground cable that nobody knew was there.

📷New disabled bays at Newquay Railway Station car park. Credit: Cornwall Council