WORK will start this summer on a major transformation of Sauchiehall Street creating a tree-lined avenue.

The scheme is the start of a £115million investment by the city council to create a network of continuous pedestrian and cycle priority routes in the city centre.

Council bosses say the aim is to make the city centre more attractive, people friendly and economically competitive.

Improvements to the non-pedestrianised stretch of Sauchiehall Street between Charing Cross and Rose Street will take around 18 months to complete.

They will transform the traffic dominated street to an area with trees, seats and cycling facilities.

A report to councillors says: "Experience has proven these kinds of improvements lead directly to safer and more vibrant places with an increasingly mixed leisure and retail offer with greater economic stability."

The plan involves widening the Sauchiehall Street pavements, planting trees and creating a two way cycle lane.

Footways will be cleared of clutter repaved in Caithness stone creating more space for tables and chairs at licensed premises.

There will also be new street lights and seats and bike stands will be placed between the trees at the edge of the pavement.

The existing three bus stops and two taxi ranks along with kerbside loading will be provided in the new layout close to their existing locations.

Details of the plan were drawn up after wide consultation with businesses and people living on the affected section of Sauchiehall Street.

City council leader Frank McAveety said: "This radical plan outlines an exciting new vision for the Sauchiehall Street and Garnethill district and a taste of what the city centre could look like in the future, setting the benchmark for modern, vibrant cities across Europe.

"These proposals will lead to improved public spaces and a better connected centre of Glasgow, fully able to capitalise on its unique assets and diversity."

In 2013, businesses on the non-pedestrianised section of Sauchiehall Street voted overwhelmingly to create a business improvement district.

That requires them to contribute the equivalent of 1% of their rateable values into a fund to improve the area.

The aim is to subtantially increase the number of overseas and domestic visitors through high-profile marketing, a programme of events and by ensuring the street is cleaner, safer and more inviting.

The move comes after a number of high profile retailers have opted to pull out of Sauchiehall Street, once seen as a vital part of the city's Golden Z and a destination for visitors and locals alike.

In March 2014, Italian restaurant Dino's closed its doors after serving diners in the city for more than 50 years.

It was followed by a number of other prominent retailers including BHS, Clarks shoe shop, Ann Summers and Greaves Sport.

Family firm Crocket the Ironmonger also shut up shop after 50 years in the city centre.

BHS occupied its prominent site for almost half a century and Ann Summer's first Scottish store has operated on Sauchiehall Street for more than 20 years.

But just this week the lingerie store announced it will close permanently in a few days.

The announcement came just weeks after high street mainstay Greaves revealed it would be closing it store just yards from Ann Summers.

The combination of shopping malls and the demise of Sauchiehall Street has been blamed for a decline in business.

Plans have been submitted for a £75million redevelopment of the prominent BHS site replacing the store with a 12 storey scheme with boutique offices and retail.

But elsewhere on the road, residents and visitors pass dozens of empty shops, boarded up windows, cracked pavements and at risk buildings.

According to Alan Wilson, marketing professor at Strathclyde University, the main shopping street in the city now runs from Buchanan Galleries to the St Enoch's Centre.

And he suggested there may need to be a rethink about how Sauchiehall Street operates.

Mr Wilson said: "You might get more potential for more hospitality - restaurants etc. might be a way of reinvigorating Sauchiehall Street but I think it will be very difficult to get a lot of new shops in there."