New crossing approved on London Road despite concerns over congestion and parking

A puffin crossing will be installed on a busy Portsmouth road to reduce accidents – but some residents are angry that parking spaces will be lost.

Portsmouth City Council has approved plans for a pedestrian crossing on London Road between the junctions of Shadwell Road and Battenberg Avenue.

The area recorded 14 collisions between July 2020 and June 2025, including one death and two serious casualties.

In April 2022, a pedestrian who was crossing the road was fatally struck by a bus. A cyclist and a mobility scooter user also suffered serious casualties in June 2023 and January 2024 respectively.

Speaking at a cabinet decision meeting, local resident Matthew Scarcliffe objected to the proposal, arguing that it would simply cause congestion on the back roads.

He also raised concerns about visibility for drivers pulling out of Shadwell Road, which he said contributes to the issue.

He said the fatality “was going to happen regardless” as there was a “crossing 140 yards away”, adding that “people cross the road wherever they like, they don’t wait for lights”.

Louise Scarcliffe suggested that the five to six parking spaces that would be lost, according to council papers, were actually closer to eight to nine spaces due to the stretch being 40m.

She added that the casualties and collisions were due to the “five ins and outs in a very small area, those will be there whether or not there’s a pedestrian crossing”.

Councillor Russell Simpson said that the area already suffers from parking pressures and sympathised with arguments to preserve spaces.

However, he said: “This isn’t something that we’ve brought forward, this is a case of a fatality and lots of accidents, this is the reason why it’s been highlighted.”

Issuing his decision, Cllr Peter Candlish, transport cabinet member, said: “Clearly one of the issues around here is parking, the area in question is under particular parking stress.

“If I look at the big picture, from that data we have, this is one of the clearest hotspots for accidents we have in the city.

“The location chosen is a very reasonable one, it is backed by evidence, whilst acknowledging the local transport issues have been raised I think that the safety consideration here is going to be my primary concern so I’m going to accept the recommendation.”