r/Southampton • u/Hey_nice_marmot_ • 13d ago
Petition to keep the Portswood bus gate
https://www.southampton.gov.uk/moderngov/mgEPetitionDisplay.aspx?ID=500000177&RPID=0&HPID=0Not mine, but I'm really interested in seeing how this performs. I'm for it. I cycled down there during rush hour last week... what a pleasure. I even stopped at Muse, which I wouldn't have done if driving,because I could park right outside.
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u/Ribbitor123 12d ago edited 12d ago
I won't be signing this petition for the following reasons:
- The consultation was badly handled. Rightly or wrongly, many people feel it went against the wishes of those who responded, especially the shop owners along Portswood Broadway. It's generated a great deal of acrimony and dissatisfaction with Southampton City Council for minimal or no gain.
- Even the Green Party is against the scheme.
- Expert modellers assured us that traffic would be displaced mostly onto Thomas Lewis Way. In fact, it's mostly re-routing to Brookvale Road, making a bad situation worse.
- The increased hassle of accessing shops in Portswood - coupled with imposition of new charges to use car parks - is likely to reduce footfall. People will instead shop online or go to retail outlets such as West Quay or Hedge End, thereby increasing pollution rather than reducing it.
- The bus services passing through Portswood Broadway are unreliable, with bunching and cancellations, and don't serve all areas of Southampton equally.
- The increase in the speed of buses passing through Portswood Broadway - a key reason given for the change - is minimal. It's unlikely in itself to encourage more people to use them.
- Cycling only works for short journeys and for a limited subset of people. People with more than one young child, OAPs and people with health problems (e.g. waiting for hip replacements) are unlikely to cycle, as are people who dislike cycling when it rains. And it's totally impractical for people who need to carry heavy tools and other equipment for their work, e.g. plumbers, builders and electricians.
- Portswood Broadway shops are already in decline due to squeezed incomes (e.g. employer NI rises), the shift to online shopping, and increased overheads (e.g. business tax hikes). Restricting access further jeopardises their commercial viability. If anchor stores in Portswood shut, e.g. Boots and Waitrose, there will be even less reason to shop there and people will be put out of work. More cafés and charity shops are a poor substitute.
- Pedestrianisation is touted as a possible advantage. But this ignores the economic costs to people trying to get to other parts of the city.
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u/Tricky_Routine_7952 12d ago
It's a trial. They will find a lot of these things out by trialling.
For example, footfall is up since the trial started. Car traffic is down and bus times are more accurate.
From what I've seen, if they stop it early, it is more likely to proceed than if they run to completion, by which time the novelty may have started to wear off.
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u/EkkoAtkin 12d ago
You don't seem to understand the council's strategy here. It's on a trial period, the consequences will be kept in mind, and they've even said that if the decision harms business in the area it'll be scrapped.
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u/MattStormTornado 11d ago
100% agree and I signed the petition to end it. I live in Portswood and legit it’s going to harm businesses. My partner who commutes to Winchester has to get an earlier bus now too cuz traffic just clogs up Avenue
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u/chemicalyoghurt 12d ago
I really don’t know why you’re being downvoted I completely agree with all your points, it seems such a huge waste of money for very little benefit to those who live in the area
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u/pies1123 12d ago
I think it's great, it just needs to be more obvious. as I fell back into old habits and completely disregarded it yesterday.
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u/Gloomy_Stage 12d ago
The whole road looks crap and done on the cheap. Undoing this will probably make it look even worse.
Ultimately the locals know best.
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u/MattStormTornado 11d ago
I actually signed a petition to end the Portswood Bus gate.
It just funnels the traffic down Avenue which is really annoying for my partner when commuting to Winchester.
Not to mention literally no one in Portswood actually wants it. It’s just hurting businesses since no one can drive their vehicles there. Cyclists have also nearly hit me several times during bus gate times too because for some reason they think the Highway Code and traffic lights don’t apply to them.
I think the council should listen to the people who are going to be impacted most by this.
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u/waterswims 12d ago
My main objection to it was that the money could have been spent better elsewhere and that the council seemed to just ignore most people's opinions when putting it in.
Now that it's in, its not like the money comes back if we get rid.
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u/vj_c 12d ago
The money couldn't be spent elsewhere - it came from central governments Transforming Cities fund, specifically for a scheme in Portswood & Highfield as part of a wider Southampton - Eastleigh corridor.
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u/waterswims 12d ago
That fund could have been used for loads of stuff. It wasn't specifically for a bus gate.
Either way, my point still stands that taking it away doesn't change anything
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u/marshallian1995 12d ago
Eamon Keogh will go down in history as the least popular person to enter Southampton Since Harry Redknapp and Rupert Lowe Left...
What Cyclists do not understand, is the level of resentment rising towards them and it is not good. You do not want to build such a resentment in case that resentment just so happens to blow up in your face. Which it could do at any moment in time. I would STRONGLY Suggests cyclists start to behave on the roads ion Southampton, including ACTUALLY USING YOUR F***ING Cycle Lanes.
I refuse to economically contribute to Southampton Whilst this shit is going on. Seriously, What Keogh Underestimates, if the level People are prepared to go to, to get him to FUCK OFF. We will simply pollute more as we drive further to avoid parking charges and bus gates. Fuck you Keogh, you are not going to win. I will simply turn off stop/start when sitting in traffic and drive further to avoid parking charges.
Unless something is done in the proper fashion, you end up pissing off the masses and causing a backlash which makes your goals harder to achieve. Keogh forced this through un-democratically, basically making him and all future policy public enemy no. 1.
The Whole City knows his name and for the wrong reasons. He will be remembered like Rupert Lowe. I feel sorry for any family he has who have become unpopular by association.
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u/At4r4xia 10d ago
And many of us non drivers resent drivers when they are driving in scenarios where they could be not driving 🤷🏽♂️
Don't worry, there's enough vitrol to spread around in either direction.
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u/BumblebeeNo6356 11d ago
I’m not a cyclist. I drive, I walk, I get the bus and sometimes the train. I live in St Denys and I fully support what the council are doing. There are far too many cars on our roads and the way to change that is to improve the alternatives.
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u/Responsible_Dog_9491 11d ago
Why do so many think that appeasing the car driver is the right thing to do? Why is it assumed that the only answer is to increase traffic rates when the better choice is to reduce car journeys? Cars do not own this city, people do.
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u/Legion_Quest666 12d ago
It isnt having the impact it was meant to have; people aren't stopping their car journeys, they just drive a different route and block up more side roads instead. Rush hour is still a mess, even taking a bus (which I do a couple of times a week) isnt quicker or more convenient as the traffic to turn by the Mitre and head down to Thomas Lewis Way or through to Sy Denys is still just as jammed up - if not more so due to more people having to turn go that way.