How will Harnham's road infrastructure cope?

Written September 2023

IF YOU were responsible for sorting out a clogged-up junction that’s blighting people’s lives, what would you suggest?

At a guess, I’d say your answer might not be: ‘Build several large housing estates feeding more traffic into it’.

But hey ho, I’m not a Wiltshire Council planner, so I expect they’ll say I don’t know what I’m talking about.

And it’s not my job (thank the Lord) to solve the problem of the Harnham Gyratory in order to justify destroying more of Harnham’s green fields.

Wiltshire’s previous ‘junction improvement’ scheme failed a cost-benefit analysis. So what now?

Here goes: They intend to widen the southbound (uphill) carriageway between New Bridge and the Gyratory to create an extra lane for queuing traffic.

That involves creating a cycle lane up to SIX METRES wide “to meet current design standards” through the wide grass verge, which they reckon can be done without felling any of the lovely mature trees lining this key approach to our city.

Then move the bus stop a bit further downhill, create a crossing with priority for pedestrians and cyclists at Britford Lane, two new crossing points on Combe Road and Downton Road, change the traffic light timings - and Bob’s your uncle. Apparently.

At Monday’s City Council meeting we were shown a modelling video of dinky little imaginary cars moving smoothly through all the arms of the junction under this new scenario.

We were told it accounted for “all the development sites up to 2026” plus a bit extra for “strategic growth rates”.

I find it hard to believe that it will, in fact, cope with the traffic serving the new estates already under construction, let alone the hundreds more homes proposed over the next decade or so on Downton Road, Odstock Road, off the Combe Road, and at the In-Excess garden centre. Not to mention the hospital’s HEAT project.

What’s more, we were warned that the viability of the scheme depends on the as yet unknown cost of digging up and diverting all the utilities that run under the Gyratory.

So what happens if that cost doesn't stack up? Does the traffic just continue to do so?

All this, to save Trowbridge the hassle for a while longer of doing what it admits it should dobut hasn’t got around to – planning for a sustainable new community away from the city and close to major transport links.