Brighton Hill roundabout works set to last two years

For anyone who lives in the south west of the town, or travels to Basingstoke from southern Hampshire, Brighton Hill roundabout will be a notorious bottleneck that needs no introduction.

Not only does it form a key part of the A30 corridor which takes thousands of motorists from M3 junction 7 to the town centre and ring road, but also directly serves Brighton Hill, South Ham, Cranbourne, Viables.

Studies show that 90 per cent of all traffic in and out of Brighton Hill is via the six-exit roundabout.

Before the coronavirus pandemic reduced traffic levels, the roundabout often became clogged at peak times with traffic backing up in all directions.

This, as well as the housing developments at Hounsome Fields, Basingstoke Golf Course and Manydown South, has prompted Hampshire County Council to invest in upgrading the roundabout.

It is the third of the roundabouts in this area of 'Doughnut City' that will be upgraded, after Winchester Road and Thornycroft roundabouts.

Hampshire County Council have revealed they intend the road works to begin in autumn 2021, and will take approximately two years.

Whilst upgrades may well be long desired, it will likely prove a frustration for motorists in the mean time.

What are the plans?

The latest version of the plans were approved by HCC's deputy leader earlier this month.

It will see the roundabout being slightly remodelled, with the addition of traffic lights to all entrances in a similar manner to the Winchester Road roundabout.

This will rectify the frustrations of motorists at the moment, with many finding it a nightmare to get onto from the minor arms.

The carriageways will also be widened, allowing more traffic to flow and tailbacks to be cut.

The underpasses allowing pedestrians to walk underneath the roundabout will be filled in, with the council instead preferring surface-level traffic light-controlled pedestrian crossing.

It's also likely that Brighton Hill roundabout will become a key part of a mass rapid transport system, which is gaining momentum at both councils.

What has previously been considered?

The council had also considered a 'hamburger' style roundabout - which would be similar to Black Dam roundabout.

It was being considered when Tesco had submitted a planning application for a new superstore at St Michael's retail park, which was refused on appeal.

The basic concept was that traffic going along the A30 in both directions would be able to continue straight across the middle of the roundabout, improving journey times.

However, civic chiefs soon scrapped the idea after the supermarket was declined and it was found it did not provide enough extra capacity.

What about the Camrose link road?

The most controversial feature of the Brighton Hill roundabout plans was the idea to build a link road through the current site of the Camrose ground.

At the time, this was an attractive option to the county council; with Basingstoke Town FC exiled in Winchester and not looking at a return to the stadium, and Rafi Razzak planning on turning the stadium into a housing estate, the link road could serve the extra houses and by-pass the congested roundabout for users from South Ham.

It would have seen motorists from Western Way join the A30 at an extra set of traffic lights, situated between St Michael's retail park and Brighton Hill roundabout. Crucially, this would have allowed for the Western Way entrance onto the roundabout to be closed.

But a spanner was thrown into the works in September 2020, when Basingstoke councillors rejected Razzak's planning applications, and with that the Camrose link road was considered as good as dead.

It's been reinforced by Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council's decision to award the Camrose stadium asset of community value status - although both this and the planning applications have been appealed.

It forced designers to go back to the drawing board, and they have since scrapped the plans and will keep the Western Way arm fully open instead.