Plans for improved cycle route on Eastern Road in Portsmouth

The development of a safer route for pedestrians and cyclists along Eastern Road will start next year using a grant of £461,400 from the government’s emergency active travel fund.

Proposals that will be implemented over the next three years include widening the path – without reducing the size of the road – and improving lighting and signage by moving street lights and signs.

Councillor Lynne Stagg, Portsmouth City Council’s transport boss, said: ‘It has very much been my ambition to make improvements along Eastern Road as this provides a good alternative to using cars, but it needs upgrading and making safer.

‘I hope that as these improvements are made over the coming years, we will see more and more people enjoying our beautiful city along this route by the sea as many did during lockdown.’

SEE ALSO: Here are the most dangerous roads for cyclists in Portsmouth

Previous proposals to create a temporary bike route using a lane along Eastern Road earlier this year using money from the first tranche of the active travel fund were scrapped at the last minute.

Instead the cash was used to implement various road closures in the city to assist social distancing.

The money from this round of funding has to be used for permanent schemes. As part of this the council initially bid for a total of £792,000 in the hope of also creating school streets – which are road closures around drop-off and pick-up times.

The area that has been prioritised in the first phase is the widening of the shared path along Eastern Road between Airport Service Road and Burrfields Road.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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