The saga of the planned diversion of Andover Road through the Kings Barton housing estate rumbles on with no one in ‘authority’ contributing to the discussion. 

In fact, their silence whether it be local councillors, developers, planning department officers, is quite simply deafening. One would hope that they have something to add to the discussion, but whatever it is, they are keeping it to themselves.

Strong opinions are held on both sides. The letters column in the Hampshire Chronicle confirms this, but most letters, and conversations, are firmly against. Over the years, many people, perhaps, groups of people, have had the opportunity to resolve this situation, but for whatever reason have failed. Either way it won’t be long before Andover Road is rerouted through King’s Barton. By January 2026 it will be done and dusted.

However, here’s an idea, a serving suggestion.
•    Allow the various council departments and their subcontractors do all the work to reroute the traffic through Kings Barton.
•    Do not rip up the historic existing carriageways of the Andover Road, neither landscape the bypassed section.
•    Design the junction at Andover Road/Harestock Road/Wellhouse Lane/Winchester Avenue so that it could easily be reopened to allow full access to the existing Andover Road once again if required.
•    After a period of time, e.g. two years, gather opinions to reassess the ramifications of the rerouting, to see whether it has been successful or needs rethinking.
•    If deemed advantageous to reopen the Andover Road, then it could be easily done.

By following this suggestion, the misguided plan to redirect all traffic through Kings Barton may allow many to save face and be part of the solution.

Winchester built one of the very first bypasses in the country. In its day it was a marvel. It can still be seen, though some sections are now under the M3. It seems very odd that we as a community would now want to do the reverse, by closing a perfectly good bypass, and redirect all the traffic into a housing estate. Good health and safety? Good town planning? Good budgeting?

Graham Ryder,
Priors Dean Road,
Weeke,
Winchester