Plans to overhaul key Portsmouth roundabouts take step further with public consultation

Rudmore, Portsbridge and Spur Road roundabouts are all in line for upgrades in a bid to ease congestion and to make them safer for pedestrians and cyclists.

A series of changes have been made to the original designs drawn up for the South East Hampshire Rapid Transit scheme based on public suggestions and a cabinet report says the amended versions will now go forward before construction starts in the spring.

It will be funded through the £56m grant awarded by the government through its Transforming Cities Fund last year.

‘Following this consultation results…the project team will proceed with final design and modelling and necessary (traffic regulation orders) and will return to cabinet with permission to start build stage and to approve TROs,’ it says.

At Rudmore Roundabout the amended plans include a review of the sightlines of traffic lights in response to concerns they can be blocked by lorries.

The project will include the construction of extra lanes, a bus priority lane and the extension of the 30mph speed limit further up the M275 northbound to make it safer for vehicles to merge.

Amended plans for Portsbridge Roundabout include the relocation of the pedestrian crossing on the A397 alongside an upgrade of Portsmouth Road crossing to benefit pedestrians and cyclists.

The report adds that the layout of the intersection between Portsmouth Road and Northern Road will also be changed to reduce the size of traffic queues.

Designs for the Spur Road Roundabout in Cosham have also been changed with the existing zebra crossing on Northern Road now set to be upgraded to a toucan crossing. The existing Spur Road zebra crossing will also be kept.

The existing path on the north-east corner of the roundabout will be replaced with a segregated cycleway and footway in current proposals in a bid to improve visibility for pedestrians and cyclists.

It has also been agreed to scrap plans for a southbound bus lane on A397 Northern Road because it ‘won’t bring any additional benefits to buses’.

Councillor Lynne Stagg, Portsmouth City Council’s cabinet member for transport, said: ‘It’s really important to improve safety and make bus journeys more efficient at these key roundabouts, so it’s good to see many residents and business share their views about these plans.

‘We’ll continue to develop these schemes and work with our partners on this project to make travel safer and swifter for people who travel in Portsmouth.’

An update on the projects will be given to councillors at next week’s cabinet meeting.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

You can now subscribe here for unlimited access to our online coverage, including Pompey, for 26p a day.