I am a West Harnham resident of over 10 years writing to express support for the improvements suggested by Gregor Condliffe to the Harnham junction and New Bridge Road.
New Bridge Road is the only route for cars, buses and trucks heading in and out of Salisbury from the Bournemouth/Ringwood direction, and access to the ring-road.
The route is often used by pedestrians, including children walking/cycling to School, and between Bishop Wordsworth's School and its playing fields. The road is also frequented by ambulances to and from the Hospital.
Currently, I find the area is busy, congested, difficult to navigate, noisy and polluted. I consider walking down New Bridge Road unpleasant and unsafe with my young family. Moreover, I would not even attempt to cycle New Bridge Road due to the dense and fast-moving traffic.
READ MORE: Salisbury Railway Station subway's £105k renovation
As a result, we opt for using the car to get between Harnham, Churchill Gardens and Southampton Road. This behaviour is further reinforced by the frequency of flooding of the New Bridge Road underpass.
The part of the proposed plans that I would like to draw your attention to is the addition of another lane of traffic to New Bridge Road in place of the footpath, and the development of a new footpath/cycle path a distance from the road.
The extra lane may make the roads less congested through improving the flow of traffic and making the junctions easier to navigate.
The footpath would be quieter, cleaner and safer for pedestrians and cyclists, and thus promote these forms of transport. In turn, this may further reduce congestion, and promote healthy and environmentally friendly choices, and wellbeing. The footpath would also make use of the unique beauty that the river Avon offers, and a vista from the noise and congestion of the city.
In summary, there is an opportunity to make one of the most frequented routes into Salisbury less congested, safer and more accessible to pedestrians and cyclists. Such work would be a major step towards making Salisbury a safe, healthy and environmentally conscious city for the benefit of all.
James Badger
Suffolk Road
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel