Remember the old Southampton Road? (From Salisbury Journal)

Remember the old Southampton Road?

10:23am Monday 5th March 2012 in Wain's World By Christopher Wain

Before the so-called experts created largely unused cycle lanes and erected a potentially deadly central metal fence blocking emergency vehicle access?

In those bad old days the A36 traffic flowed smoothly because the road was (a) wide enough to allow two lines of traffic in each direction, and (b) cars emerging from Tollgate Road could turn right. The “improvements” caused chaos, and the massive tailbacks we see daily on Churchill Way. So now there’s been a re-think (involving of course a study which has presumably cost someone a fair amount of cash) and the result is a daring leap backwards. Yes folks, instead of being forced to turn left from Tollgate Road and heading down to the Tesco roundabout to retrace their route, drivers will again be able to turn right.

Similarly if you want to get into B&Q you’ll be able to do what we always used to do - wait patiently in the centre reservation until someone politely let you turn across in front of them. And we’ll be able to do that because the idiotic central fence will be torn down. (The traffic analysts have worked out that these changes will save 5,000 miles of unnecessary U-turning on the Tesco roundabout every year – which I would have thought was stating the obvious.) There will be new traffic lights for those wanting to go into Homebase and adjacent stores; footpaths and cycle lanes will be shared (thus increasing usable road-space); and - best of all - it won’t cost any public money. The tab will be picked up by the developers building the new Sainsburys store. That’s the catch: no new Sainsburys, no road improvements.

None of this will cure our through-traffic problems, of course. That won’t happen until we get a proper bypass. But at least it’s something.

The most troubling aspect is what effect the creation of yet another out-of-town superstore will have upon city centre retailers, especially in the light of the probable eventual closure of the central car park. It’s a pity they can't use the Southampton Road site to create the large hotel we so desperately need.

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