Ambitious plans for transport in Southampton over the next 3 years

Southampton City Council approved the Council’s three-year Implementation Plan at the Full Council meeting

Southampton City Council approved the Council’s three-year Implementation Plan, covering the period from 2022-25 and forming part of the current Local Transport Plan (LTP) Connected Southampton 2040, at the Full Council meeting on Wednesday evening.

The Implementation Plan sets out proposals to invest in supporting the growth of Southampton, including the Freeport, and helping support people move around Southampton easily and sustainably. The Plan sets out spending on transport projects and infrastructure over the next three years to ‘Get Southampton Moving’ as we recover from the pandemic.

This includes investment in road maintenance, continuing with infrastructure developments already made across Southampton through the Transforming Cities programme, further developing a business case to renew and improve Northam Rail Bridge and starting innovative projects such as apps to help plan travel and book tickets simply in one place whether that be for bus travel, e-scooters or rail.

The Council has significant ambitions for developing a world-class Mass Transit System in Southampton that could, subject to funding, include a roll out of electric buses, an enhanced water taxi service, support improvements in services that start a move to a higher frequency ‘metro’ level of rail services from our local train stations, and supporting improvements to public transport connections within Southampton and our neighbouring towns and villages.

To encourage the use of sustainable transport, the Plan also ensures that developments are well connected to opportunities for walking and cycling to help people get around.

It outlines investment in Southampton’s district centres including Bitterne, the continued delivery of Active Travel Zones across the city that not only create safe streets for walking and cycling, but better places to live and spend time. These are complemented by the delivery of our 20mph streets programme launched last month.

The Plan also includes an annual programme of accessibility improvements that will be identified in consultation with a new Accessibility Forum and expansion of School Streets across the city. Funding is planned to come from a variety of sources including annual Government grants for transport investment, successful and future bids to Government, developer contributions, and other sources.

This work forms part of our wider Economic & Green Growth Strategy 2020-2030 and is an important part of our bid to become UK City of Culture 2025, which will focus on providing an exciting programme that takes full advantage of any new transport and travel infrastructure that we create.

Councillor Jeremy Moulton, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Growth, said: "Our vision to create an attractive and vibrant city where people live, work and spend time is already taking shape, for example public realm improvements around Bedford Place which go to public consultation this summer and transformational projects like high-quality public spaces connected to Bargate Quarter, Hanover Square and the area around Holyrood."

The Connected Southampton Transport Strategy (LTP4) sets out the longer-term vision for a gradual transformation of how people and goods move in and around Southampton to 2040.