'It's a rat run': Portsmouth City Council developing traffic order proposal on Southsea road after bus route sparks safety concerns
Residents see pedestrian near-misses ‘every day’
Portsmouth City Council is due to propose an Experimental Traffic Regulation Order (ETRO) on a Southsea road after a new bus route has revealed “road safety concerns”.
The number 18 bus route, which runs from Paulsgrove to Southsea, was re-routed last year to include Kent Road in order to reduce the distance needed for the bus to reach Clarence Pier.
Since then, residents have complained about the bus traffic on the road, claiming that the re-routing of the bus has made the street into a “rat run” for buses and HGVs.
Ashton Keiditsch, a resident of Kent Road, organised a petition that now has over 150 signatures, calling for the number 18 to take a different route to reach the pier.
“This road is narrow and it's only 20 miles an hour,” said Mr Keiditsch. “I’ve worked it out, it’s 90 buses a day going up and down Kent Road from 4:30 in the morning until half past midnight.
“The vibrations from the buses going up and down the street and idling is making things fall off the walls, it's making the windows rattle.
“The buses the last thing I hear at night and the first thing in the morning,” he said.
Residents are most concerned about safety issues they have noticed on the street, as limited passing opportunities on the narrow road is resulting in drivers mounting the curb.
Mr Keiditsch says he “sees near-misses every day”.
“Its dangerous for children to walk to the schools on the Kent Road because of the buses forcing the cars to mount the pavement,” he said.
A spokesperson for council said that before the extension of the bus route, no safety issues had been identified, but that “the introduction of the bus service highlighted a legacy road safety issue on the road”.
They said: "Subsequent monitoring, site observations and feedback from residents confirmed concerns relating to the road's width, limited passing opportunities and poor driver behaviour when vehicles meet. These challenges affect all road users in the area and were present prior to the route extension, with the bus service helping to bring the issue to light.
The council did said they did not make documentation of safety considerations before approving the extended route, as “it is not part of usual council decision making”.
“It's down to operators to decide which are the best roads to serve based on potential patronage and operational efficiencies,” said a council representative.
“The proposed extension was considered through the Council's normal operational and highway processes. Road safety officers also carried out site visits as part of the Council's due diligence.
“These visits were not a formal statutory requirement and did not identify any road safety objection to buses or other commercial vehicles using Kent Road at that time.”
If approved, the Experimental Traffic Regulation Order would provide a formal framework for gathering and assessing evidence relating to driver behaviour, vehicle conflict, pavement mounting, pedestrian safety, parking impacts, traffic operation and bus performance.
The proposal is due to go to a council decision meeting on October 22nd, the details of which can be found here.