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More featuresYou are in: Black Country > Features > More features > Wolverhampton's yellow brick road? Wolverhampton's yellow brick road?A group of architects are proposing to build a real-life yellow brick road across Wolverhampton in a effort to boost the city's profile. ![]() Proposed route of the yellow brick road The construction is partly inspired by the road travelled by Dorothy in the 1939 film The Wizard Of Oz and would run from the side of Molineux all the way to the train station. At just over a mile long and with a projected cost of £5 million, the route would feature yellow brickwork and have interactive pavement slabs that would light up when walked on. ![]() A production of The Wizard of Oz "We're trying to put Wolverhampton on the map," said Matt Spinks of Johnson Design Partnership, the firm behind the proposal. "Birmingham's got the Bullring; London's got the London Eye. I think it's a good idea." The centre piece will be a eight metre wide golden bridge across the ring-road that will run over the existing subway. "We're trying to connect the south side of the city with the north side," explained Wolverhampton-born Matt. "The ring road is choking the city a bit. Obviously the subway is used at the moment but we're trying to open it up to get more people across the ring road, make it safer for students, pedestrians and (football) fans." ![]() Johnson Design Partnership Matt's company came up with the idea of building a new pedestrian bridge in Wolverhampton five months ago and that proposal has snowballed into a grander plan of a entire yellow brick road. "We think that this will do much to showcase Wolverhampton," he said. "We want to celebrate the city and its heritage. For example, Spitfires were made here so we'd like to try and incorporate them into the route." At the moment, Matt and his team are awaiting the results of a feasibility study and are speaking to potential funders. They are hopeful that work could begin on the bridge by late 2010, with the yellow brick road construction starting earlier. "It's got good support from the university, Wolves, the council. Local people seem to appreciate what we're trying to do. We'll just have to see what happens." The map on this page shows the proposed route. What do you think of Wolverhampton's yellow brick road? Tell us below:last updated: 23/10/2009 at 10:49 Have Your Say
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