Hundreds of motorists ignore Labour council’s High Street car ban: Drivers flout new rush-hour restrictions just seconds after they came into force following £3m road redevelopment s here_Nhy
A new £3million road scheme introduced to ban cars from a high street at rush hour has been branded a ‘farce’ after hundreds of motorists ignored it on its first day.
Labour council chiefs spent four years coming up with plans to crack down on traffic on an inner-city road and improve air quality.
In the latest war on drivers by a Labour authority, drivers in Southampton are now barred from part of the busy Portswood Road from 7am to 10am and 4pm to 7pm.
But after years in the making and £3million government funding, the new restrictions were flouted within seconds of coming into force on Monday.
Unfazed and unaware motorists ignored the new signage and continued to use the road. In just 15 seconds, 12 vehicles were spotted driving through the restricted area.
Southampton City Council rolled out the ‘Portswood Project’ scheme on Monday as a six-month trial, with only buses, taxis, and cyclists allowed on the restricted part.
Disgruntled resident John Nightingale described the whole scheme as a ‘farce’.
The 78-year-old lives nearby and walked to the high street to watch the start of the trial. He said: ‘I have lived in the area for 34 years and this is a silly idea.
A new £3 million road scheme introduced to ban cars from a high street at rush hour has been branded a ‘farce’ after hundreds of motorists ignored it on its first day
The £3million Portswood Road project in Southampton barred car drivers from using the route from 7am to 10am and 4pm to 7pm. However, hundreds of motorists were seen appearing to ignore the new restrictions when they went live on Monday
‘To be honest, people are simply going to find routes to avoid this area, and it will slow down the buses using the bus gate on their other routes, which defeats the object.
‘People are taking no notice whatsoever of the closure. There is not enough information on the roads about this.’
He added: ‘I’m pleased to see there is disabled parking on the road but if the scheme goes ahead, there is not going to be much parking for those who want to pop here for a shop.’
The project has also been slammed by businesses, who fear it will destroy trade.
Yildirim Ordu, manager at Poppins Café and Restaurant in Portswood Road, told Southampton’s Daily Echo: ‘It is going to kill the street.
‘Early morning we get so many customers, but this morning has been dead because people going to work they came in to get drinks and a quick sandwich and they couldn’t today.’
Labour has previously be slammed for its nationwide war on motorists.
In Wales, the party was forced to pull an embarrassing u-turn last year and scrap its blanket 20mph speed limit after the scheme sparked uproar.
Yildirim Ordu, manager at the Poppins Café and Restaurant in Portswood Road, feared the scheme would ‘kill’ trade
Pictured is Poppins Café and Restaurant, which is located in the High Street
A staggering 470,000 people signed a petition against the much-hated proposals, which were rolled out back in 2023.
Wales’ Transport Secretary Ken Skates admitted the policy was so unpopular even his own family had signed the petition against it.
The plan was eventually canned in July, to the joy of Welsh motorists.
However, in Birmingham, more than a million residents face the looming prospect of the city’s Labour-run authority introducing its own blanket 20mph speed restriction.
The proposals are still being discussed. However, if green-lit, it would see all over Birmingham covered by it – and could open to door to other cities to follow suit.
While in London, the capital’s Labour mayor Sadiq Khan continues to feel the wrath of furious motorists following the controversial expansion of the city’s Ultra Low Emissions Zone, which charges motorists driving older vehicles in the city,
In Southampton, the local Labour council launched a survey in late 2020 on it’s new road restriction scheme to gather people’s opinions on the area.
The results were presented in December 2020 and January 2021, and found that out of the 195 respondents, only three were in favour of the bus priority option.
A woman holds a sign during a protest against Wales’s 20mph speed limits in September 2023
The Welsh Labour government scrapped its blanket 20mph speed limits just a year after they were introduced
But plans continued to progress, prompting a petition against the proposals that garnered 2,868 signatures.
This made it the only e-petition of 2022/2023 to make it to council.
For Conservative Cllr Jeremy Moulton, the trial is simply a ‘softening up exercise’ for the road to be closed to cars eventually.
He dubbed drivers flouting the rules as ‘inevitable’.
‘People will not be aware of the closure and will drive through as normal,’ Cllr Moulton added.
‘My take on it is if it is causing congestion on side roads when not everyone is aware of it, when everyone does know and it is in force, that will make congestion worse.
‘The council has already made up its mind and I disagree with it completely.’
Tyler Jones, owner of Flagship Coffee on the high street, was among those watching the ‘hundreds’ of cars breezing through the closure.
The 24-year-old said: ‘I do not think the trial closure has been greatly marked or signposted.
‘I do not understand why they did not do the trial in the spring or summer. It would encourage people to the area.
Tyler Jones, owner of Flagship Coffee, is among the traders frustrated by the new scheme
Only buses, taxis, and cyclists are allowed on the restricted part of the road in Southampton
‘But I do not think the closure will drive people away.’
One resident, who did not want to be named, was also watching the scene unfold.
They said: ‘The cars just seem to be driving around normally.
‘No one seems to be even hesitating.
‘Your options are very limited. You have to either do a U-turn or go down a road you are unfamiliar with.’
One Southampton resident, speaking online, said: ‘Every day another story of total incompetence and waste of tax payers money.’
Another local said online: ‘If they don’t penalise all these drivers, it’s unfair on the law abiding motorists who go the long way around, they need to be fined, unless we are running Two Tier Traffic schemes?’
Last year, hundreds of campaigners took to the streets of Southampton to protest against the scheme, which they fear would create a one-mile diversion for 12,000 drivers.
