Portswood Road: Funding warning over bus-only area plans

Millions of pounds of government funding could be withdrawn if plans to close a major Southampton road to traffic do not come to fruition, the city council has warned.

Southampton City Council has proposed turning parts of Portswood Road into a bus-only area with wider pavements.

Opponents have called it "impractical".

Eamonn Keogh, cabinet member for transport, said up to £18m of Department for Transport funding was at risk if it did not go ahead.

Under the plans, drawn up by the Labour-run council, parts of Portswood Road, from Westridge Road to Highfield Lane, could be turned into a bus-only area with wider pavements.

The parallel corridor of Thomas Lewis Way would be used to shift traffic away from Portswood Road.

It is estimated the plan would divert about 12,000 vehicle journeys each day.

Speaking at a meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee, Mr Keogh said the scheme would help people travel in a "safe, attractive and accessible way".

"We do want to encourage that active travel because that's good for health and wellbeing and will help to get to net zero," he added.

The project is funded through the Department for Transports Step Change initiative and Mr Keogh warned that about £4.5 million would be at risk of being handed back, with Portswood Broadway alone, and £18 million for the whole corridor scheme, if plans were to be cancelled.

He added Southampton could be less favoured for future government funding.

Conservative chairman of the committee, David Fuller said: "Are you more interested in getting this money from the central government even if it is for something people don't want or are you more interested in listening to the local people?"

Among the local residents speaking at the meeting, Crispin Jameson urged the council to "rip it up and start again".

"Are we going to force on with something so plainly unpopular and impractical? And we're talking a lot about alleviating the evils which it causes," he added.

The council later also admitted there was not yet a mitigation plan to deal with any emergency or traffic blockage on Thomas Lewis Way.

The committee passed a recommendation that the council's cabinet takes account of the "strength of feeling and opposition" and comes up with "alternative proposals".

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