Plans for bus-only road in Portsmouth's city centre are set for approval - this is when work will begin

Portsmouth City Council’s cabinet member for transport, councillor Gerald Vernon-Jackson will be asked to sign off on the City Centre South scheme for Isambard Brunel Road and the roundabout outside the railway station at his decision meeting on Thursday (October 12).

The scheme, which is managed by South East Hampshire Rapid Transport and funded through the £55m Transforming Cities Fund grant, was the subject of a 2021 public consultation and is aimed at improving bus journey times and making it safer to cross the road.

Fears about the pinch point on Isambard Brunel Road and potential safety issues for people crossing the road prompted the decision to include its widening to two lanes and the installation of a new crossing within the project. The new two-way road would also be made bus- and taxi-only as part of efforts to to improve public transport networks across the city. At the station road roundabout, new pedestrian crossings will be installed on each of the four adjoining roads.

“The current arrangement of the roundabout has no formal control,” a council report says. “Two of the arms have courtesy crossings, on another a heavily-used zebra and the last an informal crossing. There is no way to control their use, and as such general traffic and buses can experience delay.”

It says that four new signalised crossing points would resolve these issues with a fifth also planned for the Isambard Brunel Road bend.

“The current bend in the road, south of Portsmouth and Southsea station, presents issues for all road users,” the report adds. “The design seeks to remove this pinch point by allowing two-way traffic.”

The crossings will all be installed with bus detectors to prioritise traffic movements through the area and speed up journeys linking between Winston Churchill Avenue and Commercial Road. Should Cllr Vernon-Jackson give his approval next week, work is due to begin in January and finish in April.