Monday, November 23, 2009
Bridge works spell traffic chaos
The railway bridge on St Cross Road, next to the Bushfield roundabout, will be closed to traffic from 4 January until 31 March 2010. Signs will divert cars and lorries up Badger Farm Road and then into Winchester via Romsey Road. Be prepared for a lot of additional traffic on Badger Farm Road for these three months.
The closure has been caused by Network Rail needing to replace the bridge. This is to enable larger containers to be carried by rail from Southampton docks. Work on the St Cross Road bridge will be followed by a similar job on the Andover Road bridge, which is scheduled to be closed from 12 April to 12 July.
I've learned that a few other changes are in the offing for Romsey Road. Early in the new year, the traffic lights at the Stanmore Lane junction are due to be "re-phased" to give greater priority to traffic on Romsey Road itself. This will certainly be needed with the diversion from St Cross Road. Also, I understand that traffic lights will be installed on the Chilbolton Avenue entrance to the Chilbolton roundabout. This is intended to improve the peak hour flow of traffic on Romsey Road, traffic which currently has to yield to cars coming from Chilbolton Avenue.
With the new Park & Ride due to open in the spring, I have also been told that work will need to be done in Romsey Road to make the bus stops suitable for the P&R buses. Guess what! This work will have to be carried out while Romsey Road is the diversion route for St Cross Road.
There is another side effect of the bridge repairs. Network Rail say that train services will be disrupted from 3 - 10 April and 17 April - 8 May. They advise people wishing to travel on those dates to check train times on the National Rail website or by calling 08457 48 49 50.
The closure has been caused by Network Rail needing to replace the bridge. This is to enable larger containers to be carried by rail from Southampton docks. Work on the St Cross Road bridge will be followed by a similar job on the Andover Road bridge, which is scheduled to be closed from 12 April to 12 July.
I've learned that a few other changes are in the offing for Romsey Road. Early in the new year, the traffic lights at the Stanmore Lane junction are due to be "re-phased" to give greater priority to traffic on Romsey Road itself. This will certainly be needed with the diversion from St Cross Road. Also, I understand that traffic lights will be installed on the Chilbolton Avenue entrance to the Chilbolton roundabout. This is intended to improve the peak hour flow of traffic on Romsey Road, traffic which currently has to yield to cars coming from Chilbolton Avenue.
With the new Park & Ride due to open in the spring, I have also been told that work will need to be done in Romsey Road to make the bus stops suitable for the P&R buses. Guess what! This work will have to be carried out while Romsey Road is the diversion route for St Cross Road.
There is another side effect of the bridge repairs. Network Rail say that train services will be disrupted from 3 - 10 April and 17 April - 8 May. They advise people wishing to travel on those dates to check train times on the National Rail website or by calling 08457 48 49 50.
