Southern Vectis (SV) submitted a document to the council outlining “proposed interventions” that they’d like to see happen to Isle of Wight roads to help their buses run without interruption.
The council described it as “an operational heads-up of issues raised by the bus provider. “
The items in the document (named “Bus Service Improvement Plan – Proposals for Southern Vectis Services”), is dated April 2021 and contains 19 pages of suggestions. They are various and extensive.
Let’s be clear – none of these are definite, in fact none of them may even happen. All we know is that SV put them on a list that they’d like to discuss with the Isle of Wight council.
Here we’ll focus on SV’s suggestions labelled ‘for the removal or re-siting of on-street parking’ across the Island.
There are 38 entries (listed below). Some are entire roads, others parts of roads. Some cover one side of the road, others both sides.
The reason given by SV for these is, “On street parking removes road space and lengthens journey times for large vehicles”.
News OnTheWight spoke to someone in the know, asking what ‘re-siting of on-street parking’ meant – to move the cars on the road to another location was their view.
Three levels of priority
Southern Vectis has attached three levels of priority to these requests – 1, 2 and 3.
News OnTheWight asked Southern Vectis when they would like to see each of these priorities completed. They chose not to answer, instead providing the following statement from Andrew Wickham, managing director of Southern Vectis:
“This would be a welcome boost for the Isle of Wight. Buses are an excellent solution for reducing congestion, because they give people the option to leave their cars at home and use sustainable transport instead.
“The best way to persuade those living on and visiting the island to change their travel choices in favour of the bus, is to make journeying with us an even more attractive proposition.
“The Bus Service Improvement Plan would lead to more frequent buses, and faster journeys – and would mean our customers can be sure our schedules will match their plans, whatever their reason for travelling.”
Again, it’s unclear how many, if any, of these points raised by Southern Vectis will be granted.
The list
| Route | Place | Area | SV's proposed intervention | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Park Road | Cowes | Remove or re-site on-street parking between Victoria Road and Roundhouse roundabout in both directions | Priority 1 |
| 1 | Newport Road | Cowes | Remove or re-site on-street parking between Mill Hill Road and Arctic Road in both directions | Priority 1 |
| 1 | Hunnyhill | Newport | Remove or re-site on-street parking | Priority 1 |
| 2 | Newport Road | Godshill | Remove or re-site on-street parking between May Close and Church Hollow | Priority 1 |
| 2 | Victoria Avenue | Shanklin | Remove or re-site on-street parking between Cliff Bridge and High Street | Priority 1 |
| 2 | Languard Manor Road | Shanklin | Remove or re-site on-street parking between Green Lane and Carter Avenue | Priority 1 |
| 2 | Sandown Road | Sandown | Remove or re-site on-street parking between Flitcroft Gardens and Heath Gardens | Priority 1 |
| 2 | Lake Hill, between The Mall to Beachfield Road | Sandown | Remove or re-site on-street parking between Victoria Road and The Broadway | Priority 1 |
| 2 | Harding Road | Ryde | Remove or re-site on-street parking on one side | Priority 1 |
| 2 | High Street | Ryde | Remove or re-site on-street parking in both directions | Priority 1 |
| 2 | Park Road | Ryde | Remove or re-site on-street parking in both directions | Priority 1 |
| 2 | George Street | Ryde | Remove or re-site on-street parking on library side | Priority 1 |
| 2 | Union Street | Ryde | Remove or re-site on-street parking | Priority 1 |
| 2 | Monkton Street | Ryde | Remove or re-site on-street parking in traffic direction | Priority 1 |
| 2 | Languard Road | Shanklin | Remove or re-site on-street parking | Priority 1 |
| 3 | St Johns Road | Wroxall | Remove or re-site on-street parking in both directions | Priority 1 |
| 3 | Ocean View Road / Mitchell Avenue | Ventnor | Remove or re-site on-street parking on full length in both directions | Priority 1 |
| 3 | Spring Hill | Ventnor | Remove or re-site on-street parking on full length in both directions | Priority 1 |
| 3 | Victoria Street | Ventnor | Remove or re-site on-street parking on full length in both directions | Priority 1 |
| 3 | High Street | Ventnor | Remove or re-site on-street parking between Boots and Spring Hill | Priority 1 |
| 3 | High Street | Ventnor | Remove or re-site on-street parking between West Street and Madeira Road | Priority 1 |
| 3 | Leeson Road | Ventnor | Remove or re-site on-street parking between Bonchurch Chute and Bonchurch car park | Priority 1 |
| 3 | Regent Street | Shanklin | Remove or re-site on-street parking in both directions | Priority 1 |
| 3 | Sandown Road | Sandown | Remove or re-site on-street parking between Alresford Road and rail bridge | Priority 1 |
| 3 | Appley Road | Ryde | Remove or re-site on-street parking between Malborough Road and Alexandra Road in both directions | Priority 1 |
| 3 | St John Hill | Ryde | Remove on-street parking between Alexandra Road and Lower Highlands Road in both directions | Priority 1 |
| 4 | York Avenue | East Cowes | Remove or re-site on-street parking between Adelaide Grove and Victoria Grove | Priority 2 |
| 5 | Victoria Grove and Adelaide Grove | East Cowes | Remove or re-site on-street parking | Priority 2 |
| 6 | Carisbrooke Road | Newport | Remove or re-site on-street parking in both directions from the Mall to Wellington Road | Priority 1 |
| 6 | Chillerton Village | Chillerton | Remove or re-site on-street parking | Priority 3 |
| 6 | Rectory Road | Niton | Remove or re-site on-street parking between Newport Road and Rectory Lane | Priority 3 |
| 7 | Gunville Road, entire length | Gunville | Remove or re-site on-street parking | Priority 2 |
| 7 | Main Road | Newbridge | Remove or re-site on-street parking | Priority 2 |
| 38 | Hinton Road, Newport, entire length | Newport | Remove or re-site on-street parking | Priority 2 |
| 38 | Purdy Road, Newport, entire length | Newport | Remove or re-site on-street parking | Priority 2 |
| 38 | Whitepit Lane | Newport | Remove or re-site on-street parking between Castle Road and Mount Joy | Priority 2 |
| 38 | Shide Road | Shide | Remove or re-site on-street parking between St John’s Road and Laburnam Close | Priority 2 |
| 38 | Medina Avenue | Newport | Remove or re-site on-street parking between Shide Rd and St George’s approach | Priority 2 |
Why is this happening?
The Conservative government is getting all areas across the UK to review transport in their areas, with part of this being their Bus Back Better Initiative.
The incentive for councils to take part is money. IWC was granted £100k by the government. This report is designed to help local authorities decide what they can then do to bid for a £3 billion pot of money the government says it is making available.
Those in the council tell News OnTheWight that traffic on the Island is becoming a problem. Those who have used Island roads at rush hour will certainly know that some junctions are already at capacity. It can also be clear that, in some places on the Island, car parking can be a challenge.
It’s seen that, rather than large numbers of cars with just a single person in them travelling around and parking, forms of transport that reduce the total number of cars on the road would be better. The theory is that if buses had the ability to travel unimpeded, people would be more likely to use a bus because they would be certain about how long their journey would take.
The transition to this world will not be without pain, as for many decades, the UK has been a car-focused society, but if it is to be reached, it has to start somewhere.
Image: © Google Maps/Streetview
