Bus gate 'causing chaos' will not be axed - council

A controversial bus gate trial which has been described as causing "widespread chaos and misery" will not be scrapped, a local authority has confirmed.

The six-month trial in Portswood, Southampton - which began in January - means only buses, taxis and cyclists are permitted to travel at certain hours on stretches of Portswood Road.

At a full meeting of Southampton City Council on Wednesday, transport chief Eamonn Keogh refused to scrap the plan until the impact was assessed, despite growing pressure to do so.

Mr Keogh also survived a motion of no confidence, tabled by the opposition Conservative group and supported by the Liberal Democrats.

A petition calling for the project to be scrapped is also edging towards 5,000 signatures, whilst protesters marched through Portswood on Saturday with the same message.

Addressing the meeting, Mr Keogh said: "At this stage we will not be ceasing the bus gate."

He said the project would continue because "it is the trial", adding: "We need to recognise that that is the purpose - that we have got to assess what the impact is."

Mr Keogh added the bus gate issue had "taxed" him "beyond anything I have ever known before".

Also talking at the meeting, Portswood resident Katherine Holmes told councillors the first two months of the trial had a "devastating impact on the local community".

She said high street businesses were reporting reduced footfall and a loss of earnings while thousands of cars were displaced into residential areas, which was causing "widespread chaos and misery".

"The bus gate trial cannot be considered a success when there are such obvious and serious impacts on the local community," she continued.

Mr Keogh said he understood the passion being expressed by residents but added that a recent independent audit into the project found there were "no further issues" with the trial.

But Conservative group leader Peter Baillie, who tabled the motion of no confidence in Mr Keogh, accused him of "ploughing on no matter what".

"At what point do you not plough on and say actually we need to halt and we need to rethink and we need to start again," he said.

"It is no exaggeration to say that Portswood will never be the same again if this bus gate continues."

Lib Dem group leader Richard Blackman said the project did not look tenable or sustainable and he would scrap it immediately.

Addressing the authority's Labour leadership, Mr Blackman said: "You need to demonstrate that you are listening, and really listening."

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