Work to start on transport scheme in Bevois Valley
Southampton City Council is to commence work on a major project to improve provision for people walking and cycling through Bevois Valley.
The work will be carried out by the council’s Highways Partners Balfour Beatty Living Places and will deliver upgrades to the existing shared cycle/footway and improved crossings between Rockstone Lane and Lodge Road.
The scheme is part of the council’s three-year ‘Transforming Cities’ programme, which sets out a range of bold and ambitious infrastructure projects to improve public transport and make the city a more attractive place for walking and cycling. This comes following a successful joint funding bid by Southampton City Council and Hampshire County Council, which was awarded £57m from the Department for Transport’s ‘Transforming Cities’ Fund earlier this year.
Improvements along Onslow Road and Bevois Valley will include widened shared footways to enhance access for walking and cycling; continuous crossings to prioritise people walking and cycling over motor vehicles; and upgraded signage and resurfacing. New toucan crossings will feature across Mount Pleasant Road and also across Onslow Road between Pleasant Road and Earls Road. The bus stop between Bevois Valley Road Car Park and Ancasta Road will also be built out during these works, allowing buses to pull out with greater ease and giving priority to public transport over other vehicles.
As well as improving access, these changes will create an important new section of the Southampton Cycle Network (SCN), which continues to be developed in line with the council’s ten-year Cycling Strategy, launched in 2017. The network already includes two complete routes to the east and west of the city – SCN1 from Totton to Southampton city centre and SCN3/4 from Windhover Roundabout to Southampton city centre. The latest changes along Onslow Road and Bevois Valley will form the initial section of the planned SCN6 cycle corridor connecting Southampton to Eastleigh and Chandlers Ford. Once complete, the full Southampton Cycle Network will provide a series of connected and consistent routes enabling people to travel by bike in and around the city safely and with ease.
Work will commence in the Onslow Road/Bevois Valley area from 27 July and will take place in multiple locations at the same time. This has resulted in a shorter schedule of just 12 weeks, reduced from the six months originally planned. Work will be undertaken mainly on weekdays between 7am-6pm.
During the build period, Onslow Road will become one-way southbound. All outbound bus stops will be suspended while the one-way southbound restriction is in place. The site for the works will be located in the dead-end section of Ancasta Road; parking there will therefore be suspended for the duration of the works.
Councillor Steve Leggett, Cabinet Member for Green City and Place, says:
“These improvements are part of our £57m long-term plan for transforming travel in Southampton City Region with works on our footways, cycleways and bus routes. This is a bold and ambitious approach to change how people travel in and around Southampton.
In line with the council’s Green City Plan, we want to encourage more active and sustainable means of transport to improve air quality and reduce congestion. The measures being introduced in the Bevois Valley area will do exactly that.”