City council confirms plans for multi-storey car park for Portsmouth’s park and ride

Plans are afoot for Portsmouth Park and Ride to get a multi-storey car park

A proposal for £350,000 is set to go forward for design work with a view to building a four to five-storey extension to the site in Tipner next to the M275, creating around 1,000 new spaces.

Currently, the car park has 650 spaces – but Portsmouth City Council says this reaches full capacity during weekends and special events.

The council hopes that this investment will reduce the number of cars travelling into the city centre, easing congestion and reducing pollution levels.

Cllr Lynne Stagg with a Park and Ride PR2 bus. Picture: Supplied

Cllr Lynne Stagg, cabinet member for traffic and transportation, explained: ‘The park and ride is a vital part of our transport strategy for the city and I’m very pleased to see steps being made towards its expansion.

‘Not only does it provide a first-class service that gets people in and out of the city in an environmentally friendly way, it also has the potential to help make future improvements sustainable by giving people a way to travel that won’t block up the roads.

‘Future development for the city centre could include a variety of retail or leisure facilities, a bigger park and ride means people can enjoy these without the hassle of traffic and I hope my fellow councillors support this investment in our city’s future.’

The funding is being recommended as part of the council’s capital budget, which will go before the cabinet and full council in February.

The park and ride service was upgraded in September last year with the addition of the PR2 route – which goes through the city centre via university accommodation.

Rachel Hudson from Portsmouth Friends of the Earth says this new expansion could make a huge difference to the city’s air quality.

She explained: ‘I think this is very good news and I’m delighted that this is going forward.

‘It’s great for lots of reasons, but mostly because it will improve air quality.

‘We’ve got big problems with emissions from cars but this improvement to the park and ride should mean we get fewer cars coming in, which is terrific. It makes our streets safer and means lower carbon emissions from the city.

‘This is a great start and I hope there will be further improvements to the service.’