Castle Road – cycling and walking improvements

Bollards will stop through traffic along Canal Walk from 2m south-east of Bridgeside Close and 2m north-east of the junction with Construction House to create a safer route for people walking and cycling to the city centre. This approach to creating safer cycler routes is already working successfully along Guildhall Walk.

Castle Road has over 80 homes and a wide range of independent shops that generate a high amount of footfall throughout the year, as well as being used as a route through to the seafront by people driving, walking and cycling. The changes will help this continue safely and address the problem of footpaths on both sides being too narrow to allow for social distancing unless people step out onto the road.

This scheme will support social distancing, and make it easier to walk and cycle, we are stopping vehicles from using it as a cut-through by closing a section of Castle Road to through traffic.

All of the businesses on Somers Road can still be accessed by Raglan Road or Somers Road by vehicle, on foot or by bike, and by walking or cycling from Sydenham Terrace or Canal Walk. Please make sure you make your delivery companies aware of the road closures and diversions that will be in place.

Vehicles will not be permitted to park within the closure. Emergency vehicles will still have access, and they are being informed of the changes to the road.

We welcome feedback from businesses, customers, residents, and people walking and cycling through the area on how the scheme is working. This will help us make alterations and improve the scheme where possible, as well as helping us gather information to inform our review of the scheme. Please share your views by emailing us at EATF@portsmouthcc.gov.uk.

Please also share your views by taking part in the Sustrans Space to Move survey by visiting https://www.sustrans.org.uk/space-to-move/.

We will regularly review all temporary road changes to ensure they are working how we want them to during the pandemic. Data will be gathered on the route usage, road safety audit and current information from Public Health and the Police, and we will also review all feedback we receive. The reviews could lead to some alterations or removal of the road closure depending on how well the change works.

If the routes work well in creating a safe and enjoyable space that encourages active travel, we could then look at adapting the designs to make it permanent.  However, this is a temporary change at this stage, and we’ll be reviewing it regularly to make sure it works appropriately for users of the route, residents and businesses in the area.