Petition - Re-instate the Bus Stop

Thank you for your recent letter and petition requesting that the bus stop on Romsey Road opposite West End Terrace be moved to outside the St James Tavern pub, further down Romsey Road where it was located a number of years ago.

The bus stop was originally moved further up Romsey Road due to frequent conflicts at the bus stop between buses and delivery vehicles serving the St James Tavern. This resulted in traffic congestion and made it particularly difficult for buses to pick up people at the bus stop and manoeuvre around the delivery vehicles whilst trying to pull away up a particularly steep hill on a very busy road. There were also complaints received from local residents at the time that the conflict between buses and delivery vehicles was creating a potentially unsafe situation for road users and pedestrians.

By moving the stop approximately 150 metres further up Romsey Road, we were able to provide better facilities for bus passengers by way of a bench for bus passengers to sit on and wait for their bus, as well as providing a litter bin, although we do acknowledge that it does mean a longer walk uphill for a number of bus passengers, which some may find difficult as you point out.

We have consulted again with Stagecoach, who are content with the current arrangement and see no need to change the location of the bus stop. They share the concern that if the stop were moved, then we would re-introduce the conflict between buses and the delivery vehicles.  We are conscious that we may also re-ignite the original local complaints about the conflict between delivery vehicles and buses.  For these reasons, we do not propose to move the bus stop.

Whilst this does not provide the outcome you wanted, I hope you can appreciate the explanation and the reasoning behind the decision.

Yours sincerely

Councillor Nick Adams-King
Executive Member for Highways Operations