Summary
- Where: Coxford Road/Lords Hill Way
- When: From January 2022
- What: Engagement on and delivery of improvements for the Hospital Park & Ride bus route
- Why: To support existing bus services to the Hospital, and for Southampton’s first Park & Ride site
- How: Funded as part of the Transforming Cities programme
Latest News
September 2022
The scheme is now complete
The Coxford Road scheme supports the new 1,000 space Park and Ride facility serving University Hospital Southampton. Work has been completed over the summer at the Coxford Road/Lord’s Hill Way junction and has delivered a number of improvements for people travelling by bus, bike, taxi and car.
The new rapid bus lane allows buses, taxis and cyclists turning left from Coxford Road towards Lordshill to completely bypass the signalised junction at Lord’s Hill Way. The signal upgrades also decrease journey times for all other vehicles using the junction.
Other buses following this route from the hospital to Lordswood are benefitting too as bus stops have been enhanced as well as access to the subway.
Summer 2022
The council has taken on board public feedback about the initially proposed junction improvements and the new design delivers more improvements for buses, taxis, cyclists as well as benefits for all motorists using this junction. Details from the public consultation in March can be found on our separate survey summary page.
The scheme will deliver a new bus lane turning left from Coxford Road heading towards Lordshill which will bypass traffic signals. This will improve the reliability and journey times for hospital staff using the Park and Ride facility, as well as First and Bluestar routes in the area. The bypass lane will also be available for use by taxis and cyclists.
To complete the works safely, the following restrictions will be in place:
- The northbound lane of Coxford Road will be closed from the junction with Greywell Avenue to the junction with Lords Hill Way / Lordswood Road for the duration of the works. This will allow access southbound towards the hospital, but a diversion route will be put in place for people leaving the hospital wishing to access Lords Hill Way / M271. The diversion route will be via Warren Avenue and A35 Winchester Road. You can view the full diversion route online at My Journey.
- All vehicle and pedestrian access to Rosewood School will be maintained via Aldermoor Road, however, the junction of Aldermoor Road with Coxford Road will also be closed for the duration of the works.
- Bus stops at these locations will be temporarily closed or relocated during these works. Please speak to your bus service provider for the nearest alternative bus stop; you can find more information and contact details on their websites.
In addition to this we will be resurfacing the junction at the end of the work which will require full, overnight closures of the Coxford and Lords Hill Way junction. Letters with more detail will be sent to the residents likely to be affected by these works closer to the time.
Project Details
The council identified Lords Hill Way / Coxford Road junction for a Transport Scheme to improve bus access for the new hospital park and ride service. The council proposal was unveiled in March and local residents were asked to feedback on the design as well as anything else that concerned them about this location. The council proposed scheme allowed buses to jump queuing traffic when turning right into Coxford Road towards the hospital. However the design reduced the number of lanes for other traffic and introduced additional staggered traffic signals. Local people rejected the scheme with 58% disagreeing with the plans and only 24% agreeing. The biggest takeaway was that the junction worked effectively and any peak time congestion was due to issues further up the network. Bus and pedestrian improvements were welcome but not at the risk of additional delays for everyone else, the prime concerns were pollution, volumes of traffic, traffic noise and safety for pedestrians and cyclist.
The council has taken on board this feedback and completely changed the design to instead include a new rapid bus lane or jet lane that bypasses the junction completely, for buses, taxis and cyclists turning left from Coxford Road heading towards Lordshill. The new design leaves the signal junction unchanged and improves bus journey times even further. Also by taking left turning buses, taxis and cyclists away from the traffic signals it improves journey times for all vehicles using the junction. The new bus jet lane means that the park and ride service can be run with just three buses due to the shorter journey times, making it substantially more sustainable. It also benefit other buses following this route from the hospital to Lordshill, where the council are also enhancing bus stops and subway access.
As the new junction design addresses the concerns raised in the public survey including delivering some pedestrian access improvements and relocating and increasing tree planting on Coxford Road, the council is proposing to take forward this new design (see plan below).
The survey closed for comments on Friday 20 August 2021.
Click the map to view in full screen :
This scheme is part of a wider project to provide Southampton's first park and ride service, more details can be found here.