Improved transport corridor that allows smoother traffic flows providing a better alternative to New Road, and enables bus priority as well as better connectivity across the corridor for people walking and cycling.
- Increase walking and cycling between the Cultural and High Street Quarters and wider City Centre
- Provide improved pedestrian and cycle junction upgrades along the Ring Road
- Improve journey times for traffic including buses through smart technology junction upgrades
- Increase open spaces and connectivity between open spaces across the Ring Road prioritising people cycling and walking
Benefits of the improvements
- Smart technology signal improvements along the entire Northern Inner Ring Road corridor, improving general traffic flow whilst providing bus and cycle priority on junction approaches through low level signals and advance stop lines
- Improved pedestrian and cycle crossings at key junctions to improve connectivity across the Ring Road
- A pocket park at Devonshire Road junction creating a public realm area between Polygon and the Ring Road
- EV charging points at Brunswick Place and Grosvenor Square being Southampton’s first on-street charging points.
For information on the previous phases of the Ring Road improvements, please visit our page here or click the sidebar link to view the Completed Phases and Scheme Information.
August 2024 - overnight works
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As part of the final phases of the Ring Road Improvements scheme, we will be laying high friction coloured surfacing along the crossing points and junctions in the scheme works area. This work is planned to take place from Monday 2nd September 2024 over a period of five nights. Unfortunately, it has not been possible to fully complete this work under lane restrictions due to the extents of the works and so, in order to create a safe working area for our operatives, we will be required to close the Ring Road (Havelock Road, Cumberland Place, Brunswick Place) overnight for three nights, with lane restrictions in place on the Ring Road for the final two nights.
For the first three nights of work (Monday 2nd to Wednesday 4th September), the Ring Road will be closed between 8:00pm and 6:00am from Charlotte Place Roundabout to Commercial Road, including the junctions of Kings Park Road, Above Bar/London Road, Bedford Place and Grosvenor Square.
For the fourth night of work (Thursday 5th September), we will have lane restrictions on the Ring Road, and so the Ring Road will temporarily return to anti-clockwise, one-way system from Charlotte Place Roundabout to the Civic Centre Junction, between 8:00pm and 6:00am, with junction closures on Commercial Road (both east and west) and West Park Road.
For the final evening (Friday 6th September), the Ring Road will remain open as usual, with junction closures on Commercial Road (east) and West Park Road between 8:00pm and 6:00am.
Diversion routes will be in place during the closures, and the road will reopen each morning for usual traffic outside of the working hours. Please plan your journeys where you are able to. We would like to thank you for your patience whilst this work is completed.
If there are any changes to this work, we will let you know via our X (formally Twitter) @SCCHighways.
If you have any concerns, questions, complaints, or compliments regarding the scheme, please reach out to us on CityCentreTCF@balfourbeatty.com.
July 2024 - Temporary one way closure removal
The temporary traffic signals on the Ring Road (Brunswick Place, Cumberland Place, Havelock Road) are being decommissioned and taken down as we draw closer to the completion of the scheme. This will require some overnight lane restrictions as well as temporary junction closures on the junctions which meet the Ring Road.
These lane restrictions and junction closures will be taking place between 8pm and 6am from Wednesday 31st July 2024, for 2 nights, to facilitate the removal of the traffic management on the Ring Road.
- Junction closures on Above Bar Street, Grosvenor Square and Bedford Place during night 1
- Junction closures on Commercial Road (both east and west), Grosvenor Square and Bedford Place on night 2
Following this, the temporary one-way system will be removed. From 6am on Friday 2nd August 2024, two-way traffic will be able to resume on the Ring Road and usual movements will be allowed.
April 2024 - Carriageway resurfacing
Shortly we will be moving into the next phase of work which will involve resurfacing the various junctions of the Ring Road.
These works will commence from Monday 29th April 2024 and are planned to take up to two weeks (not including weekends or the Bank Holiday Monday). To safely complete these works, we will need to close the junctions of Grosvenor Square, Bedford Place, London Road, Commercial Road (west) and West Park Road as seen in the map below. As these are high traffic areas our work will need to occur overnight between 8:00pm and 6:00am. Each morning the Ring Road will return to the current temporary one-way system.
Click here to open the map in a new window.
Please be aware that due to the depth of excavation required on some of the sections of the Ring Road, we will need to work in stages to build up the foundations, and during this time you will notice raised ironworks and an unfinished road surface whilst we work to complete these areas.
The table below sets out the schedule of works and the dates each junction will be closed during the overnight resurfacing. The temporary one-way system will continue to run along the Ring Road during these works:
|
Resurfacing Date |
Traffic management in place |
Junctions closed during this time |
|
Monday 29th April and Tuesday 30th April 2024 |
Resurfacing of a portion of Cumberland Place between and including the junctions of Grosvenor Square, Bedford Place, and London Road.
|
Grosvenor Square, Bedford Place, and London Road |
|
Wednesday 1st May until Friday 3rd May 2024 |
Resurfacing of a portion of Havelock Road between and including the junctions of
|
Commercial Road (west) and West Park Road
|
|
Tuesday 7th May until Wednesday 8th May 2024 |
Resurfacing of a portion of Cumberland Place between and including the junctions of Grosvenor Square, London Road, and Bedford Place.
|
Grosvenor Square, Bedford Place, and London Road
|
|
Thursday 9th May until Friday 10th May 2024 |
Reserve dates for possible revisits to the junctions in the event of bad weather. |
|
Further work will be carried out in July to complete the resurfacing including the junctions of Above Bar Street and the section of Commercial Road (east) adjacent to Southampton Art Gallery and SeaCity Museum. We will communicate these details closer to the delivery time.
February 2024 - Phase 2B
As part of our City Centre Transformation, we previously made improvements to sections of the Ring Road in both 2021 and 2022. We will now be returning from Monday 5th February 2024 to complete the final and largest phase of work, which is expected to be completed in Summer 2024.
More information on how this work is funded is available here, and quick-reference FAQs can be found here.
Upcoming improvements
Cumberland Place/Devonshire Road junction
At Devonshire Road, the traffic lights will be removed and the road will be closed at the Cumberland Place junction to allow the Ring Road to operate more smoothly, as the current signals are close to the Commercial Road/West Park Road junctions and cause additional delays to traffic. To ensure that people can still cross Cumberland Place, a push-button controlled pedestrian crossing will replace the traffic signals.
A new pocket park at the Devonshire Road junction will also be created through closing the Devonshire Road arm and removing the traffic signals at this junction. The pocket park aims to create an attractive safe area with additional lighting, seats, planting, and places to rest. This closure was informed by both a public consultation as well as a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) consultation in Spring 2021.
Please note, CGI is a representation of how the scheme may look and is subject to change.
London Road, Above Bar and Bedford Place Junction and West Park Road and Commercial Road junction
Refurbishment and modernisation of the traffic signals at the Bedford Place/London Road and Commercial Road/West Park Road junctions with new technology that allows them to be more efficient, as well as adding Bus Priority to improve journey times and reliability.
Bus priority will assist buses in crossing the Ring Road more efficiently at these two key junctions, improving journey times and reliability.
Footways and resurfacing
Footways and sections of the road will be resurfaced or repaved with higher quality materials to further enrich the area.
People with limited mobility
Footpath and crossing facilities for people with limited mobility, walking, and cycling will be upgraded so it is safer and more direct to cross between the City Centre and London Road, Bedford Place, the Mayflower Theatre and the Parks.
Restrictions in place during construction
The works being undertaken will be significant, so to reduce their impact while still allowing local access, an anti-clockwise one-way system will be introduced during the works (east to west) on the section of the Ring Road from Charlotte Place to the Civic Centre. Traffic going west to east will need to use New Road and St Andrew’s Road to travel to Charlotte Place. Some bus services may be diverted onto alternative routes, please check with bus operators directly to see if there are any changes to your usual route.
Coming from Southampton Central Station into the City Centre, vehicles will not be able to turn left at the top of the hill at the Civic Centre, but will have to travel ahead along New Road in an easterly direction to join the one-way system at Six Dials junction.
Click the map to enlarge it in a new tab.
This anti-clockwise only system will remain in place throughout the works until completion of the improvements.
Access to Devonshire Road from the Ring Road:
This closure aims to improve journey times around the Ring Road by reducing the traffic attempting to join the Ring Road and will also accommodate the construction of a new pocket park on the Devonshire Road junction. Access for Devonshire Road will be possible through Bedford Place, following the one-way system from Charlotte Place Roundabout and turning right onto Bedford Place, following this up to Henstead Road and then continuing to Devonshire Road.
Access to West Park Road, Park Lane, Grosvenor Square, Commercial Road, Bedford Place, London Road, and Kings Park Road from the Ring Road:
Access to Park Lane and London Road will be possible for traffic following the one-way system by turning right, and exit from these roads will also be right-turn only. Exit from Kings Park Road will be left turn only towards Charlotte Place Roundabout. Access will be possible following the one-way system.
Bedford Place will remain entrance only throughout construction, with no exit onto Cumberland Place. The exit from London Road, which has previously been left-turn only, will temporarily become right-turn only during construction. Please be aware that this will return to left-turn only after completion.
Grosvenor Square will remain exit only, with access possible through Bedford Place. Access to the Grosvenor Square Car Park will be as per current arrangement.
Commercial Road from the Mayflower Theatre will be right turn only onto the Ring Road.
Access to Commercial Road towards the Mayflower Theatre will be possible from the Ring Road by following the one-way system in a westerly direction and turning right.
West Park Road is usually a bus-only right turn, however through our works the right turn will be available to all. Please be aware this will return to bus-only once the works are complete. Access to West Park Road will be possible from the Ring Road by following the one-way system in a westerly direction and turning right.
Access for pedestrians, cyclists, and e-scooters:
Pedestrian connections across and along the Ring Road will be maintained, however pedestrians may be advised to use alternate or temporary walkways at times, as well as temporary crossings.
Cyclists and e-scooters may find some cycle lane approaches will be reduced or temporarily suspended during the works. Signage will be provided to indicate ‘do not overtake cyclists’ to vehicles.
More information on the access of each junction is available in the FAQs found here.
If you have any concerns or queries, please reach out to our team on CityCentreTCF@balfourbeatty.com.