Ridley Road market update – upgrade paused to support traders over Christmas
Work on the £1 million upgrade of Ridley Road market has paused for the Christmas period to support traders during the busy festive season.
The improvements, which began in October, include new street trees, free public wifi and cashless payment machines through a joint investment between Hackney Council and the Mayor of London designed in collaboration with the market’s traders.
This will now be stopped until 4 January 2022 to provide additional space and uninterrupted trading to businesses over Christmas and ensure that shoppers are able to safely social distance while using the market.
Changes completed so far have included planting the first new street trees and installing free public wifi. Work will recommence in the new year with new granite paving, further greenery, places to sit, new signage and dedicated character areas such as a hot food stall zone and market garden area, with the project due to complete in summer 2022.
Meanwhile work has already begun on investment in nearby Ashwin Street, which is home to some of Dalston’s iconic destinations, including Cafe Oto and the Arcola Theatre. The street will see new signage, street trees, planters and paving to help build on its reputation as a focal point for Dalston’s creative and cultural organisations while making it greener, more accessible and more pedestrian and cycle-friendly.
It’s been great to see the first phase of enhancement and improvement works commence on site in Ridley Road in recent weeks, heralding the start of the transformation of Ridley Road to a greener and more sustainable street that will ensure that the Ridley Road street market will remain at the heart of Dalston for years to come.
Pausing the works on site now will mean market traders and local businesses can focus on their customers at a vital time for all businesses in the run up to Christmas, whilst shoppers can make the most of what Ridley Road has to offer over the festive period.
Ridley Road Market is open throughout the run-up to Christmas for fruit, vegetables and gift ideas like clothing, jewellery and perfumes. The market is open Monday to Saturday, 9:30am to 4pm, with extended opening hours on 22 December between 8am-7pm.
The investment in Ridley Road and Ashwin Street is one of the first projects being delivered as part of the Dalston Plan – a new set of guidelines to shape the future of Dalston including Council projects in response to feedback from thousands of local people through the Dalston Conversation. Find out more at hackney.gov.uk/regeneration-dalston
