Residents in East Cowes, who over the last few days have experienced gridlock traffic due to issues at Red Funnel, may be relieved to hear that the company has new plans that they say will improve the traffic flows and reduce the possibility of the same thing continuing to happen in the future.
With new plans out from Red Funnel today, News OnTheWight has been through them in detail with the intention of highlighting what’s now being proposed.
Jump to the full diagrams to see the proposed plans
What are the changes?
There are quite a few changes. Some of them include:
- Moving the proposed ferry terminal building, with pedestrian access to the ferry now via a raised covered walkway
- Entrance to the site for traffic is now further along Castle Street, opposite the Waitrose carpark entrance – putting more distance between it and the roundabout
- The orientation of how vehicles are parked whilst waiting to board the ferry has changed
- There are now two lines of vehicles coming out of the ferry, presumably so they can be unloaded faster within the terminal – although they do merge into one lane once the traffic reaches the exit at Castle Street
- A new taxi drop-off pick-up point for pedestrians is shown in Trinity Yard (where traffic currently waits to load)
- ‘Indicative outline of Future vessel at Second berth location’
- The plans now show at least four check in booths
New route for car and direction of waiting lanes
Shown in dark purple. EV charging area also now shown
Below: showing previous suggestion for cars to arrive and queue for ferry
Two lines of vehicles coming off the ferry
Shown in the lighter purple
New building and taxi drop off
The proposed new building sits on the site that was for a proposed hotel previously
Second berth location
Labelled as ‘Indicative outline of Future vessel at Second berth location’ – marked in dotted orange line – top left of image below.
Raised walk way to ferry
Shown as green dotted line, the raised covered walkway goes over the vehicles as the board/exit ferry.
New location for a hotel
The yard where we all currently queue, before crossing Castle Street to get to the check-in booths, is now proposed to have a hotel on it.
Previously (below) it was down as residential
Permission previously granted
As reported back in 2017, Red Funnel received planning permission from the Planning Inspectorate for a new terminal layout, which includes on building Phoenix Yard, Trinity Yard and Redux Yard, shifting where traffic going to and coming from the ferry flows.
Feedback considered
The company says that feedback from the previous consultation has been considered and new plans have been released today (Monday).
Red Funnel say the planned changes will remove the need for long queues on the approaches and exit roads of ferry traffic.
See the three maps
The three maps below show the 1) current layout, 2) the layout that has consent and 3) the proposed new layout.
Dedicated Website
You can find out more about the plans by visiting the dedicated Website. In addition, Red Funnel are planning to host another public exhibition at East Cowes Town Hall, where residents can learn more about the updated proposals and how their feedback has been incorporated into the plans.
This takes place on Saturday 7th October, from 10am to 4pm. If you have any questions or require further information, please contact: [email protected]
Other areas
As well as the changes to the terminal, Red Funnel’s proposal continues to explore the potential for a mixed-use development, including a hotel and retail spaces, with a focus they say, on driving economic growth and improving the waterfront’s overall appeal.
Red Funnel are inviting the public to once again, have their say on plans to transform the ferry terminal area and how vehicle traffic to and from this northern gateway to the Island is directed through the town as part of the East Cowes Regeneration project.
Article edit
7.14pm 25th Sep 2023 – Added some more detail and clarified other.
