In October, Southampton City Council has updated its Transforming Cities campaign after being awarded £57million from the Governments Industrial Strategy’s Transforming Cities Fund. This is towards projects covering up to March 2023.
Following on from our look at what Portsmouth City Council have in mind , this is a quick lay look at what is coming up for the Southampton area in the next couple of years.
We must remember of course that these are only proposals and subject to planning negotiations, consultations and complaints from local members of the public. So let’s look forward to see what is in the proposal for transforming cities in the Southampton area.
Fighting the Train to Fawley
Despite the fact that plans are already underway for a new rail service between Southampton, Totton and Fawley, Southampton City Council is looking to develop rapid bus links between the City Centre, Totton and Hythe.
If you are coming by bus from the west of the city, there will be plenty to help you have a fast and regular journey into the city centre. Of course, there is already the bus lanes and priorities along Millbrook Road West, but these are proposed to increase.
Bus Lanes from the Marchwood ByPass
Part of the Southampton City Council’s stakeholder update was a proposal that a new bus only access would be available from the Marchwood Bypass to the A326 for buses heading into Southampton.
I am assumptive that this means where there is currently a one-way route towards Marchwood and Hythe. It would be likely that the reason it would be restricted to buses is to keep other traffic to the A35 heading towards the Totton Bypass.
Service Bluestar 9 towards Southampton has to also brave the traffic of the A35 and through Hounsdown, or go via the backroads and Trotts Lane.
New bus lanes and priority will also cover a lot of the route from Totton to Southampton City. Proposed at Rushington Roundabout, Millbrook Roundabout, and then along the primary artery of Millbrook Road West and Mountbatten Way.
The first such consultation is already underway. Widening Millbrook Road West on the approach to Regents Park Road will result in the loss of a service road access and changes to some traffic flow alongside is planned.
Rather than this being entirely for the use of the services (Bluestar or otherwise) from Totton, it is for something else:
Southampton West Park & Ride
This is a proposal for a new facility close to the M271, which will help move incoming city centre traffic from city car parks to a new dedicated bus service.
To be fair the facility in Portsmouth, where there is a Park & Ride site at Tipner, works quite well when I have to drive into the centre of Portsmouth. This is, of course, pre-COVID. Portsmouth City Council have so far not seen enough demand to warrant the re-introduction of the service. Three dedicated double decker buses are being put to other uses by First Hampshire and Dorset out of their Fareham depot.
The Southampton City Council scheme seems to be a little…. off though. They are proposing that the service runs for the hospital during the week and the City Centre at weekends. Surely it would be better to have a City Centre service during the week as well, even if only for the daily commute? We all know that shoppers will want to park at West Quay, but the fact they are more short-term parking instead of 8am to 6pm evens out through the day.
Bus Lanes, Bus Lanes Everywhere…
Bus lanes and priority systems are being proposed to stakeholders in all four corners of the city and beyond:
- St Denys Road – between The Avenue and Cobden Bridge
- The junction of The Avenue and Burgess Road
- Bishopstoke Road towards Eastleigh Town Centre
- Saltmarsh Road (between Itchen Bridge and Ocean Village) to become a bus only road.
Bus Hubs, Bus Hubs Everywhere…
I know – I could be more original.
What is new though is that the Transforming Cities fund is proposed to include a number of new or improved bus hubs. For those of us of a certain age, the idea of a bus STATION is nothing new. Bolt on a few cycle racks though and it is now a bus hub.
Improvements to existing bus facilities are going to be enhanced with click & collect services, shared ‘e-mobility’ and the bus. I am not sure how this whole shared e-mobility is going to work – the stakeholder update includes buzz words like cargo bikes and scooters.
I am not convinced that a cargo bike would be taken any more seriously than any of the cycle rental schemes currently blighting the landscape. Did Beryl get any bikes back during last years amnesty?
Mobility Hubs are Planned in:
- Portswood – District Centre
- Swaythling Railway Station
- Southampton Airport Parkway Station
- Eastleigh Town Centre
- Woolston Interchange
Southampton Central Station is also planned for an overhaul, which will include all the facilities of a mobility hub, but also including better drop-off and taxi facilities, and more pedestrian friendly access to the City Centre and proposed Mayflower Quarter.
and a New Southampton City Bus Station
The public car parks on Castle Way are proposed to make way for a new city centre bus hub, presumably to replace many of the bus stops around West Quay and the Bargate.
Both small surface car parks are to include everything we have already mentioned for a bus station hub and including travel information and waiting areas. I would imagine that this would mean that the council would provide a neutral travel information desk like Portsmouth have done at the Gunwharf Quays Travel Hub(?)
A new bus hub is also planned for Above Bar Street, presumably replacing the large number of bus stops at the north end of the pedestrianised precinct.
There are some big plans afoot
If you include all the changes that are also being made for cycling and walking, Southampton is making so significant anti-car changes for the coming few years.
Of course, this is still largely subject to planning consents, community engagement, and sign off. Not everything will probably make it to final production and things might take as long as the long-awaited extension to the Gosport Eclipse BRT.
The Transforming Cities section of the Southampton City Council website appears to be mostly up to date, with existing funded elements of the scheme also included.