Delme roundabout £8.9m improvement proposals agreed
And that is not the only spending by the county council on bus routes in the Fareham area – there are plans for Portchester’s Castle Street roundabout which people can comment on. Chief Correspondent Rob Thomas reports…
HAMPSHIRE County Council has agreed to proceed with improvements to the A27 between Downend Road and the eastern approach to, and exit from, the Delme roundabout.
The stated aims of the proposed scheme are to introduce a bus lane on the eastbound side of the A27 as it approaches the Delme roundabout, and improve pedestrian – including a Toucan crossing at the Cams Hill Estate junction – and cycling infrastructure with a two-way segregated cycle track adjacent to the westbound carriageway.
Further details of the projected changes are still available on the county council’s consultation website.
The stated reason for the proposed changes is the need to accommodate a predicted increase traffic at the roundabout due to proposed local developments such as the 6,000-home Welborne Garden Village – outline planning permission for which has just been granted by Fareham Borough Council.
The officer’s report to Hampshire County Council’s Executive Lead Member for Economy, Transport and Environment Councillor Rob Humby states there is one outstanding issue: ‘third party’ land at the entrance to the Cams Hall Estate must be formally designated as a public highway.
The £8.9 million estimated cost of the changes is not an issue in itself because it is coming from the £19.6 million awarded to the county council from the Department for Transport’s Transforming Cities Fund.
What is an issue is that the money must be spent by the end of March, 2023.
Consultation on Portchester bus improvements
And some more of that Transforming Cities money is to be spent on speeding up bus services in the Fareham area with a proposal to give buses priority at the Castle Street roundabout in Portchester.
The overall aim, according to the consultation website, is to improve bus services between Portsmouth and Fareham. And at Portchester this involves:
- installing bus priority traffic signals on Castle Street roundabout adjacent to the bus stop, allowing easier movements for buses exiting the stop onto the roundabout, and
- introducing restrictions on the use of the bus stop, so that only buses can use the stop, keeping the bus lane and access clear.
The public consultation about this scheme has now started and runs until just before midnight on Tuesday, December 21.
There are six other Hampshire County Council schemes in the south east of the county, all funded by the Transforming Cities money:
- Ladybridge Roundabout, A3 Bus Priority and Cycling Enhancements;
- Park Road South (Southbound) Havant;
- Havant Town Centre Pedestrian/ Cycling Enhancements;
- Havant College to Rail Station;
- Leigh Park Bus Stop Enhancements;
- Gosport Interchange Improvements – to read the latest Globe report on this project click HERE.
Image (top): A27 Delme roundabout to Downend Road junction scheme. Hampshire County Council
