East Park Terrace in Southampton reopens to buses, bikes and taxis

Councillors, project leaders and university representatives came together on Thursday to explore the new bus, taxi and cycle-only layout.

It comes after months of work that saw the road closed from its junction with Charlotte Place Roundabout to New Road.

The scheme is expected to improve bus journey times with upgraded crossings, new cycle lanes and the addition of planted areas expected to seamlessly link the University to the rest of the city centre.

New cycle lane installed at East Park Terrace in Southampton (Image: NQ)

A new ‘Living roof’ shelter has been introduced at the recently installed bus stop to improve biodiversity with a new art project set to be commissioned for the raised carriageway.

The council will use CCTV to observe the behaviour of drivers and has the option to enforce the bus, cycle and taxi-only restriction if there is a high level of contraventions.

The use of cameras would see warning notices issued for a period of time prior to enforcement starting. Improvements have been funded by the Department for Transport’s Transforming Cities Fund.

Transport boss, Cllr Eamonn Keogh said the new layout “exceeded expectations” and “will reduce congestion and improve safety in the heart of the city centre”.

“Before it was just basically a dual carriageway. It was used as a run through the city.

“Now it’s attractive, it’s safe and it’s accessible, it enhances the public realm for Solent University, it provides that link into the parks and into our cultural quarter, so it is transformational.

“We’ve got the ring road that’s taking traffic away, that is going to be finished next week.

"That will reduce journey times and I think that over time we will be able to demonstrate to drivers that actually they’re much better off on the ring road because it is going to reduce their journey time.”

New planted area and traffic lights installed at East Park Terrace in Southampton (Image: NQ)

The road is part of the U6 bus route which runs from Central Station to University Hospital Southampton and also forms part of the Route 6 cycle network from Portswood to the City Centre.

Cycle lanes have been installed from Charlotte Place roundabout and the Palmerston Road and New Road junction which continue onto East Park Terrace. 

Crossing points have also been upgraded at the junctions of Palmerston Road, New Road and Charlotte Place.

Professor Sarah Jones, pro vice-chancellor for education at Solent University said: “We’re a civic university, we’re in the heart of the community and this really helps us move seamlessly through the park.

“It may have been a long time coming but it’s really exciting that it’s here now. It’s a huge improvement to safety and that’s what’s really good about all of these initiatives.

It’s one less thing for us to worry about with our students and they can just easily freely move to the parks and back without that worry they’ve had previously.”

Council leader Lorna Fielker added that most people who use the University building are pedestrians, describing the layout as “absolutely brilliant”.

“I think it looks beautiful. It feels wider, brighter and with less traffic.

“This is part of a wider scheme that links from Swaythling and we intend to take that right down to the National Oceanography Centre.

“It’s about making sure the road is used in the right way. It is not a rat run through to other bits of the city which is what most of the cars were using it for but it’s being used in order for people to move around the city better.

“We’ve got the new ring road now which will be open shortly and that will really help move traffic around the city much more successfully.”