Representation by Southampton City Council (Southampton City Council)
- Date submitted
- 13 March 2023
- Submitted by
- Local authorities
The A34/M3 Junction 9 scheme will provide strategic access to the Port of Southampton on the important Midlands-Solent corridor for freight. Reliability and congestion at this junction has been highlighted by Transport for South East (TfSE) on a key freight corridor to the international gateway and Freeport at Southampton and the scheme is in their draft Strategic Investment Plan (SIP). Southampton’s Local Transport Plan (Connected Southampton 2040) also highlights need for reliable connections to the Port and city as they both grow. Unlocking congestion and capacity constraints at J9 will have positive impacts on local, regional and national economic growth particularly for trade through Southampton. Therefore, the scheme will help to achieve this and should be supported. Our previous comments highlighted the need for the walking and cycling elements to be designed to LTN1/20 standards to ensure that there is connectivity around and across the junction, NCN23 goes through the junction - this route starts in Southampton and provides opportunities to access the South Downs National Park. These remain and the use of shared use paths for example should be minimised. It should be noted that this scheme will need to show how it is achieving net zero carbon in line with national and local targets.