Why are we doing this work, Why Now? How is it funded?
This is part of a three-year programme of schemes that are funded from the Government's Transforming City's Fund. You can find out more details here https://transport.southampton.gov.uk/transforming-cities/
What alternative routes and travel options are available?
Despite the lane restrictions, vehicle access will be unchanged until Phase 4, when Kent Street will be closed for 3 weeks from the end of August. Access will be maintained via Graham Street.
Towards the end of September, Northam Road will be closed inbound for 2 nights. There will be a local diversion route in place via Princes Street and Britannia Road.
How are pedestrians and bus users affected?
Due to the extent of the works and the need for social distancing, there will be footway closures during Phases 2 and 3 that will require pedestrians to cross to the west side of Northam Road; diversion signage will be in place when this occurs.
During Phase 3, we will be working where the inbound bus stop on Northam Road is located. However, there should be sufficient room to maintain a temporary bus stop just up from the original. At some point the old bus shelter will be replaced with a new alrger shelter, unfortunately, the company who supplies the bus shelters for the council have been affected by the lockdown and have not been able to coordinate with us.
We would always advise checking with your bus service provider just in case they decide to change which stops they are using during our works.
Why does the work take this long? Why isn't work carried out 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to speed up work?
There is a considerable amount of work to do for this scheme. If we attempted to do everything at once, the impact on access would be far more impactful. We also could not undertake prolonged overnight works due to the number of residential homes along Northam Road. However, by carefully phasing the works we have minimised the impact and the restrictions.
Can traffic signals be adjusted to give more priority?
During the first 2 phases, we will monitor traffic using the Northam Road, Princes Street junction to see if additional time might be needed while there are lane restrictions in place.
Can the road works be restricted to off-peak times?
Unfortunately, we are excavating the roads and footways, and we are using the lane closures to create a works area and site compound, so it is not possible to remove the lane restrictions at peak times.