Campaign to end plan to divert Andover Road

This statement included the closure of Andover Road to traffic and for this traffic to be diverted through Kings Barton. No account was taken in 2012 of the likely views of Kings Barton residents or any other Winchester residents to this closure. Now a recent survey of over 300 adults living in Kings Barton showed that 96 per cent want Andover Road kept open for traffic. We know from recent letters to the Hampshire Chronicle and from another survey of Winchester residents’ views that there is considerable support amongst Winchester residents for keeping Andover Road open.

The original decision to close Andover Road to through traffic was against urban and transport planning best practice. There is no example anywhere in the UK of a significant main urban radial route being closed and its traffic being diverted through the centre of a major new housing development. There will eventually be 2,000 dwellings with some 4,500 people living in the Kings Barton housing development.

READ MORE: Bus driver shortages lead to services being scrapped in Winchester

The implications of closing Andover Road are that :-

- with expected future developments further north on Andover Road, there could be some 15,000 vehicles/day travelling along Winchester Avenue, the main road through the centre of the development

- there is a strong likelihood of an increase in road traffic casualties by taking traffic off Andover Road and diverting it along Winchester Avenue. This is because Andover Road is a main route, with limited housing only on one side of the road and well set back from the road, whilst Winchester Avenue has extensive housing on both sides of the road and also a shopping centre and school

- traffic diverted through the centre of the development will create a social barrier between residents on the opposite sides of Winchester Avenue

- this diverted traffic will discourage pedestrian and cyclist movement across and along Winchester Avenue including to the development’s shopping centre and school

- there will be excessive noise and air pollution for residents living on Winchester Avenue with air pollution probably exceeding World Health Organisation standards

- Winchester Avenue will remain open for through traffic to stop in the shopping centre. But the diversion of all traffic from Andover Road to Winchester Avenue is contrary to the Kings Barton Residents’ Association desire, expressed to the local authorities, that Kings Barton becomes a 20mph speed-limited Low Traffic Neighbourhood with no more than 2,500 vehicles/day on any road in the housing development. This desire is in line with Government recommendations for encouraging pedestrian and cyclist movement

- residents in Weeke and Harestock are concerned that closing Andover Road to traffic will encourage more traffic to take routes through Weeke and Harestock and on Stockbridge Road to reach the city centre

- there is no need to close Andover Road to improve pedestrian and cyclist movement along it; there is space between the Road and the Kings Barton housing to provide a pedestrian and cyclist way

The Kings Barton Residents’ Association has developed this Petition:-

"We ask Hampshire County Council and Cala Homes to reconsider the current planning permission and instead keep Andover Road open for vehicular traffic.”

We are appealing to the good will and common sense of Winchester residents to keep Andover Road open. If you would like to support this Petition then look for the KeepAndoverRoadOpen Petition on the change.org website.

Please include your FULL postcode.

Alternatively you can reach the petition from the KBRA website; www.kingsbartonra.org.uk.

By Mike Slinn, vice chairman of Kings Barton Residents Association

Message from the editor Kimberley Barber

Thank you for reading this story. We really appreciate your support.

Please help us to continue bringing you all the trusted news from your area by sharing this story or by following our Facebook page.