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The masterplan to keep Portsmouth moving
22/3/2011 C0 Traffic lights at the new The Trafalgar Gate link road junction Picture: Paul Jacobs (111028-19)
Few things irritate motorists more than the endless stopping and starting caused by roadworks.
In a city as dense as Portsmouth it can feel like everywhere you look contractors are digging up the highways.
But all the disruptions which currently litter the city’s roads are really part of a huge effort by the council to help get people moving.
And it isn’t only cars which are being targeted; buses, cyclists and pedestrians all have schemes aimed at helping them get where they are going more quickly and easily.
Over the last year Portsmouth City Council has been carrying out an ongoing review of all the area’s traffic lights, many of which were installed in the 80s and need replacing.
It has involved taxi drivers and cycling groups in pinpointing which lights and junctions require attention to allow all kinds of traffic to flow more freely.
Now new traffic lights and pedestrian crossings are beginning to be installed which make use of new technology for detecting pedestrians, synchronising with other sets of lights and changing their patterns to suit the flow of traffic.
Deputy head of transport for the council, Pam Turton, said: ‘A review and quite a lot of work has been undertaken to actually look and see what needs to be done with our traffic lights.
‘A lot of the lights in the city are coming to the end of their lives and there is a huge amount of modern technology we can now use to build better, more sophisticated junctions.’
Work is scheduled to be completed in March on three junctions which will use new technology to aid people trying to cross the road safely and improve the flow of traffic.
New pedestrian crossing systems are being installed at the junctions of Elm Grove and Grove Road; Albert Road, Lawrence Road and Waverley Road; as well as Victoria Road, Elm Grove and Outram Road.
Mrs Turton said: ‘These schemes will provide a safe pedestrian route through the area and reduce confrontation experienced between traffic and pedestrians.
‘Each of the sites will also benefit from the addition of on-crossing detectors.
‘These will enable less mobile pedestrians to cross safely without the need to hurry.’
Decisions have yet to be made on how many junctions will be replaced city-wide, but work on five is currently ongoing or about to start, and the council has around another five in the immediate pipeline awaiting decisions.
In April 2011 the council published a 20-project wishlist of road and traffic improvements for the city.
Due to cost around £2m, this transport plan was set to be brought in over the next 12 months.
Many of the projects are now nearing completion in time for the target deadline of March, with consultations having been carried out during 2011.
Projects due to finish within the next few months include plans to make Eastern Road two-lane southbound between Milton Road and Swordsands Road, replacing an existing traffic island with a toucan crossing and modifying Milton Road’s traffic lights to improve the traffic flow and pedestrian crossing.
Similar improvements to the traffic lights and pedestrian crossings in Copnor Road are also almost finished, but a scheme to slow traffic in Kirby Road had to be abandoned after opposition from residents.
And the council decided its plan to create a one-way system in Francis Avenue and Heidelberg Road would not be ‘the best use of resources’.
Kerbs are also being raised at every bus stop in the city, to help older people, those with buggies and young children and others to get on and off.
This will continue until 2015.
Mrs Turton said the council was ‘very careful’ not do all the work at once so putting ‘stress’ on the network.
But she added: ‘Unfortunately the processes take time to go through so that is why a lot of work is happening now.
‘In an ideal world we would stagger them more than we do.’
She added: ‘The other problem is that doing this work is just very, very expensive.
‘The alternative measures we have put in place while work is going on cost a lot of money and there are just no quick fixes.
‘But these schemes are fundamental to how the city runs. In these difficult financial times we are just delighted to have the money to continue them.’
MAKING ROADS SAFE
AS WELL as getting traffic and people in Portsmouth flowing freely the council is also striving to make the city’s roads as safe as possible.
In streets such as Farlington Avenue, in Farlington, and Tangier Road, in Baffins, speeding has become such a concern for local people that traffic calming measures could soon be introduced.
The strategies for slowing traffic include narrowing roads and installing chicanes and raised platforms. Residents in both areas are being consulted to see if they think such measures will solve their problems.
Allaway Avenue, in Paulsgrove, was also highlighted last year after an accident in which a youngster was knocked off his bike by a car.
Now the council is aiming to introduce a one-way system near Victory Primary School to ensure a safer flow of traffic.
There are also plans to put in improved pedestrian crossings near other schools in Portsmouth, such as Newbridge Junior School in Copnor.
In order to improve safety around schools even more, the council is aiming to reduce some 30mph speed limits to 20mph.
Schools being considered for the change include Corpus Christi Primary School, in Gladys Avenue, Victory Primary School, in AllAway Avenue, and at Copnor Infant and Junior Schools, in Copnor.
The council is waiting for approval and funding for a scheme to install bollards, barriers, signs and drop kerbs to improve access to schools city-wide.
BUS LANE CAMERAS
PLANS for a £20,000 study into bus lane cameras have been thrown out by Portsmouth City Council.
The city’s Lib Dem administration suffered its first full council defeat in two years over the proposal, which was intended to look at whether cameras could stop cars using city bus lanes and committing other parking violations.
It was defeated by a single vote when councillors from both the largest parties queried the £20,000 price tag.
In the end it proved too much for a majority to accept, especially after it was claimed that other councils have been able to install fully working systems for around £36,000.
Conservative transport spokesman, Luke Stubbs, welcomed the decision not to proceed.
He said: ‘Dozens of councils across the country operate this type of equipment, so we already know it’s feasible. It’s also not that expensive. It makes no sense to spend large sums on a report when what is needed is a political decision: buy it or don’t buy it. It’s a waste to suggest spending thousands just talking about it.’
Now the decision has been taken to put CCTV cameras in two location of particular concern, where raised barriers have failed to stop motorists using the bus lanes near Moneyfields Sport and Social Club and in Furze Lane, in Eastney.
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Comments
There are 14 comments to this article
Page 1 of 1
dave3974
Friday, February 17, 2012 at 07:18 PMlet us get rid of some of the bus lanes that are causing the congestion then
MurF
Friday, February 17, 2012 at 01:03 PMthe new wrote -'Allaway Avenue, in Paulsgrove, was also highlighted last year after an accident in which a youngster was knocked off his bike by a car.' Funny how they got a problem in allaway ave, last April they resurfaced the cycle track (on pavement going past victory school) and followinf the resurface they failed to put back the white line definning the cycle lane. So I wonder if this cyclist was knocked off after april? If so then it could have been the councils fault. Yes, I've been complaining regularly to get in reinstated, but to no avail. You would think following an accident, the cycle track was important! But hey, it's PCC
lord mark
Thursday, February 16, 2012 at 01:35 PMas a ex-taxi driver,now living between wales and tenerife.i just hope it´s just steamline cab drivers, that have been asked.or the city will be even more of a mess. if you have drivers of any firm that say,that start with......A.....black for hacks..yellow for p.h. or want-to-be hacks.
Melgee
Wednesday, February 15, 2012 at 03:51 PMHere in Swindon the Council have been switching off the road traffic lights at very busy roundabouts in a 6 month trial of traffic flow and it will come as no surprise to many drivers that the traffic flow is actually better with the lights switched off! Swindon was the first Council to stop using speed camera's as well and the result has been that speeding cars on the roads have not been on the increase. All Councils should now adopt what some Cities and Towns are trialling right now and that is removing the traffic road sign junk that blinds the driver with information overload.
Le Critique
Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 04:06 PMThe master plan of misunderstood geniuses (or total fcukwits). The road systems need sorting out and roundabouts need removing and replacing with crossroad junctions. Plonking more traffic lights is not the answer!! Grrrrrrrrrrrr!!
Mad Atter
Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 10:48 AMThe Germans ,being somewhat more efficient than us ,have a very simple answer to this .. When I lived over there my local traffic lights onto the main road were only in use at rush hours.the rest of the day they flashed amber. This meant you gave way to the main road traffic and pulled out when clear.A simple answer to the side roads on Eastern Road.Come on council officials,get a grip ,you make me so mad.
Scott McGarveys Perm
Monday, February 13, 2012 at 12:09 PMPortsmouth city council and master plan......... is this a joke ?
Graham Wheatley
Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 02:50 PMThe people who 'plan' these things undoubtedly have qualifications coming out of their ears. Their desks are groaning under the weight of all the awards and space on their office walls minimal, due to the number of certificates thereon. And yet they do not appear to have a single ounce (or gramme) of common sense between them. --- The design of the junctions at 1) Lake Rd-Fratton Rd, 2) Tangier Rd-Eastern Rd, 3) Copnor Rd-Burrfields Rd and now 4) Velder Avenue-Milton Rd are ALL poorer and less effective than previously was the case. --- In the instances of the first three listed, the lights and stop-lines were set back and the junction had a large amount of 'open' space in which vehicular traffic could move - it provided space for corrections if the driver took too poor a turning-curve. They also allowed more room for buses and HGVs. The restriction on available road surface that now exists may well lead to more incidents of vehicles clipping the kerb or raillings (where those exist). Readers may recall that when Velder Ave-Milton Rd junction was changed from a roundabout, it took PCC and their 'planners' at least two attempts at corrective measures (three attempts in total, including the oiriginal 'planning' work..) to stop buses demolishing the railings when drivers didn't get it EXACTLY right. --- The Velder-Milton & Burrfield-Copnor junctions have now reduced the number of lanes from 3 to 2. And the whole idea of both of those were to increase traffic flow? Utterly absurd. --- These junctions should never have been changed. All it has resulted in is a waste of public (i.e. at your & my) money, led to unnecessary disruptions and delays while the work was carried out and subsequent traffic flow has been worsened. The people who planned these junctions, and the person(s) who signed-off those plans should be held to account for their decisions. --- To my mind the over-riding principle must be "will the new design be better and more efficient than that which it replaces?". If it isn't, then don't do it.
tez123
Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 10:13 AMI agree with painter with the ridiculous decision to stop cars turning right out of Velder ave..It just makes the people from moorings way and numerous roads off of it having to go to Eastern rd and down Langstone rd if they want to get to the hospital or st.marys road.But what else can you expect from a council who puts crossing just after roundabouts potentialy closing them off.and sends cars round by schools(moorings way) when every other council try to keep their school areas safe
painter
Friday, February 10, 2012 at 01:08 PMThings have been made worse for drivers who now cant turn right onto Milton Road from Velder Avenue, this is a ridiculous decision as it does not appear to have eased the queues at the lights as the reasons for doing it in the first place.
moonshine
Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at 08:11 PMI drove down Eastern Road at 9.30pm last Wednesday, hit red lights at Tangier Road, Kirkpal Road and Moorings Way, for no reason. Only one car shot out, at Tangier Road, and that was 10 seconds after I was stopped so the lights hadn't changed for it. This is one of the two main arteries into the city. Try leaving Southsea in the early hours and you'll get held up by traffic lights, cycling for no reason, wasting petrol and people's lives, instead of being set by default to green on the main through routes. Traffic always gets stopped at Park Road on the main route out of the city in the morning; invisible cars pull out and turn in, while imaginary hordes of pedestrians cross. Hopefully the improvements will consign students to tunnels and bridge around the University once again, and the pelican crossings can be replaced with metal railings.
Ali Changezi
Monday, February 6, 2012 at 03:40 PMAtleast we can read the City Council is working on traffic lights and now they understanding that most of these lights are unnecessary. What about the lights turning off at night when there are no traffic at all but still these lights are running same as rush hours, it does not costing money for electricity, repairs etc.??? One very important place the city council ignoring all the time which is just bythe Southsea Station at theend of Commercial Road and Isambard Brunel Road, where it was running very well before they put prority crossing onthe junction and nerrowed the road, and put zebra crossing on the roundabout . This junction to be placed as it was before to keep running the traffic inthe town. Because Motorists have the rights as well to use the road, as they pay the Road Tax, insurance, MoT plus on the top spending a lot on petrol.
Flying bull
Monday, February 6, 2012 at 12:20 PMIf a lot of the lights in the city are coming to the end of their lives rip them out. This will save money, time, and power. Most of them are not needed. One prime example is by the town station where has all the traffic gone there? As for the Eastern Road it was always two lanes southbound what fool turned it into one? ITS YOUR MONEY THEY ARE SPENDING.
Appy pompeii
Monday, February 6, 2012 at 08:52 AMsort the commercial rd lights out, going out of the city then !
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