Off The Fence column with Stephen Morgan MP: We need a new footbridge at Fratton

I have always argued that Pompey’s success is our city’s success.

Portsmouth is not short on ambition, but it is short changed on investment.

Being frustrated by the lack of progress in improving access from Fratton Station to Fratton Park is what drove me to set up a means to bang heads together and deliver on the ambition for the club and our city.

I am pleased the regular forum I have convened, and chair, is doing this – enabling the club, council, developer and Network Rail and railway company to collaborate and find a solution to the problems identified.

Local residents and football fans are all too aware of the challenges being faced with existing infrastructure.

Traffic jams and congestion plague the area, with a travel survey conducted by the club revealing that 59.6% of people currently travel to games by car, compared to just 18.5% by train.

This has devastating impacts on our local environment and air quality.

Meanwhile, the narrow walk along Goldsmith Avenue for those on foot presents a safety risk for pedestrians and especially young children on match days.

The survey also revealed that if the footbridge were in place, the results would be reversed. 65% of attendees would choose to travel by train, with just 15.31% opting for car travel.

By unlocking a means of effectively conveying passengers to Fratton Park, congestion would be significantly reduced; safety would be improved; and CO2 emissions would be reduced by two thirds per match.

We have reached an important milestone in our efforts by working in partnership.

Initial options for a bridge have been explored. Understanding road use has been understood.

The travel survey is complete. Work is now well underway to secure funding for a feasibility study, with the council and club committing to part funding, and hope that the developers will be on board soon.

It is disappointing Network Rail won’t stump up their share of the cash for this initial work, and I will keep lobbying them to do so and to keep them on board to help guide our effort.

I have long been making the case that this project is more than simply a nice upgrade and does not exclusively benefit football fans.

It is key to ambitions to regenerate Fratton Park and the surrounding area.

By increasing connectivity and access between parts of our city, it will unlock opportunity and stimulate the local economy, bringing economic benefits, beyond the club, to us all.

I will continue to play my part – and lead when appropriate – to urge all those able to deliver the footbridge to get together and make this project a reality.

This is vital not only for our fans, but for the future prosperity of Portsmouth.