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The Beginning of the Bus-gate Trial – 27 January 2025 (extract from HRA E-News February 2025)

Posted by on Feb 6, 2025 in News | 0 comments

The beginning of the Bus-gate Trial
27 January 2025

 

Bus-gate Enforcement from Monday 10 February
Drivers facing warning letters then fines for continued breaches

27 January – the start: Last Monday saw the start of the Bus-gate trial and part-time closures of Portswood Broadway to through traffic at peak times. I had a delivery to make that evening (4.30pm) and walked along Brookvale Road there and back. I met a lady conducting a Traffic Survey outside of her house with clipboard in hand. Two gentlemen were riding bikes up and down Brookvale then stopping on the corner to discuss.

I walked along the Broadway on the second morning between 7am and 7.45am and found a fairly quiet Portswood Centre but with cars and one highspeed delivery electric bike passing through the prohibited zone. There were several illegally parked cars, either on double yellow lines or in marked bus-stops. It had been expected that the restrictions would not be enforced for at least the first two weeks of the trial.

On Tuesday I again walked up and down Brookvale Road, this time during the evening peak time and it was a different story. Cars were jammed bumper to bumper. Legally parked cars and the new buildouts made traffic progress slow or impossible due to conflicting priorities. This blocked things even more. I had reports of cars performing U-turns in front of oncoming traffic. Highfield Lane was reported, especially in the evening, with huge tailbacks up to the Brewhouse and Kitchen as St Denys Road backed up because vehicles were unable to turn right onto Thomas Lewis Way at the traffic lights. An ambulance was reported as struggling to travel up Highfield Lane.

Throughout this first week HRA received many emails and photographs of problems. A misleading sign was spotted at the junction of Brookvale and Portswood Roads advising prohibited vehicles to access the A335 via the Broadway.

Thomas Lewis Way was stopped in both directions around 6pm on Tuesday evening seemingly due to problems on the M27. Any hold up on TLW is likely to make travelling through Portswood and surrounding residential streets much more difficult.

As the week went on, the situation including cycling and walking on Brookvale Road, became unsafe. Many families with children reported streams of vehicles due to displacement from the Broadway onto local residential roads. It was reported that an e-scooter, moving at speed along the pavement had narrowly missed a child who had stepped out of their gate. Safety became the main concern before the end of Week 1.

Brookvale Road Residents held a meeting on 4 February to a packed hall and presented information slides and traffic data. The current levels of traffic on Brookvale Road, when the Bus-gate is in operation, have increased traffic on Brookvale Road by 90% on some days, with the highest daily number of vehicles, so far recorded, as being almost 6000.

Following the presentation, the discussion addressed 4 options for immediate Council action to resolve the unsafe traffic situation caused by the start of the trial.

Option 1 – Do nothing

Option 2 – Remove the Bus-gate and the ATZ measures and return the streets to safety

Option 3 – Use Automatic Number Plate Recognition technology on Brookvale Road to control excess through traffic

Option 4 – A modal filter on Brookvale Road to control excess through traffic.

The consensus of the meeting was that Option 1, waiting for the 6-month trial period to pass, was not an option. It was recognised that different areas of Highfield might prefer different options and that all views should be respected. After the meeting, participants were asked to fill in a feedback form and list their option preference. Every comment will count!

Due to the safety concerns, HRA has requested a copy of the Risk Assessment that was undertaken by SCC as part of the Broadway Bus-gate Project. It should be noted that the Project Team had not modelled the effect of a Peak-time only Bus-gate on surrounding residential roads before the trial began.

Brookvale live traffic data can be found here:
https://www.portswood-funnel.co.uk/
info@portswood-funnel.co.uk/
SCC Monitoring of the Trial

“As part of the trial, the level of achievement of each of the following objectives for the Portswood Project will be measured:

1. To regenerate and make Portswood District Centre a more attractive, accessible, vibrant and competitive economic destination so people spend more time and money here

2. To improve the air quality, environment and biodiversity

3. To provide more space for people walking and wheeling with improved connectivity and road safety

4. To improve the choices of transport modes for people to use

5. To improve bus reliability and journey times and create better bus stops

6. To enhance quality of life for all who live, work or shop in the area

7. To reduce the amount of through route traffic on local roads

8. To reduce crime and anti-social behaviour.

These [Key Performance Indicators] will be assessed by an independent consultant in the 3-month and 6-month reports. A series of different data including traffic and movement, economic, community and contextual data will be collected at key points before and during the trial, and after the trial should the scheme be made permanent. During the trial, a monthly interim assessment will be undertaken utilising readily available traffic data to understand the impacts of the Portswood Project. A summary will be made available to the public on the project website.”

SCC Project Team commissioned a baseline report which provides the pre-trial data. The report is available to view here. It is detailed and dense and HRA hopes to be able to extract and share the important sections in the next couple of weeks.

HRA Monitoring Reports

HRA also intends to monitor the effects of the scheme against the 8 Key Performance Indicators on a monthly basis and publish this on the website. The information will also be shared with the Steering Group. The project team have indicated that hard data will bear more weight than opinion. The list of 8 objectives above, will guide everyone to focus their comments. All of the aspects are important, not only traffic. How has the cycling been? Have you noticed any difference in the space you have for walking or the quality of the environment etc?

Every voice counts and HRA members can help.

HRA members can send email comments and photos to HRA.HonSec@gmail.com. It is assumed that any information or image sent will have permission to share (anonymously) on our website. Can you help with the monitoring?

Please note:

Only photos sent direct to HRAHonSec / HRA Comms would be used

Permission to share publicly is assumed if sent

No photograph can be copied from any external, third-party source e.g. The Daily Echo

No malicious photographic material will be used

No photographic material or text from any political source would be used

Photos from Week 1

Barbara Claridge
HRAHonSec
Send your observations, comments and complaints to: portswoodcorridor@southampton.gov.uk

Send comments on the Experimental Traffic Regulation Orders (ETRO) to:
https://transport.southampton.gov.uk/tro-consultations/portswood-broadway/

These will not be considered until after the 6-month trial but comments will all count and you can comment more than once. ETROs include the ATZ buildouts on Brookvale Road, signage, traffic filters on Russell Place, changes to parking, measures to improve safety and cycling and the Bus-gate restrictions on The Broadway.

If you require further information to allow you to submit a comment on these proposals, please email: Southampton.Traffic.Management@balfourbeatty.com

Send comments, observations or complaints to the Cabinet Member for Transport, Councillor Eamon Keogh: Councillor.E.Keogh@southampton.gov.uk

This is how to contact the Portswood Ward Councillors:
Councillor John Savage: Councillor.j.savage@southampton.gov.uk
Councillor Marie Finn: Councillor.A.Finn@southampton.gov.uk
Councillor Katherine Barbour: Councillor.K.Barbour@southampton.gov.uk

Every comment will count.

HRA will take account of member comments in their monthly monitoring reports but will not pass on individual comments to the Officers or Councillors leading the scheme. A proforma will be circulated for monitoring comments towards the end of February for those who are interested.

Send comments to: hra.honsec@gmail.com

For even more information look here: https://transport.southampton.gov.uk/tro

Here is a link to Frequently Asked Questions about the Scheme: Portswood Project FAQs

Here is the Portswood Project Homepage: Portswood Project homepage

Remember:

“Only authorised vehicles are permitted through the bus/taxi/cycle-only section, these include:

  • Buses
  • Taxis
  • Cyclists, E-scooters and E-bikes
  • Emergency vehicles
  • Any other service vehicle, carrying out a statutory duty e.g. gritting, refuse collection, that cannot use another route for their purpose and require constant use of the vehicle.

Access to the centre for any other vehicle will not be possible via this section of Portswood Road during bus gate hours.”