Rail bridge plans set to move ahead

Details of plans to replace a key road and rail bridge in Southampton are set to be unveiled later in the year, the city council has said.

The authority wants to replace Northam Rail Bridge, which currently carries the A3024 - a single lane road, with a dual carriageway.

The outline business case for the scheme has received government approval.

Southampton City Council said it was a "key connection” linking the port, city centre and eastern suburbs.

The single carriageway road, which carries 27,000 vehicles a day in and out of the east of the city centre, is more than 100 years old.

In November 2021, the city council released plans for a dual carriageway replacement bridge, which was expected to cost up to £70m.

Junctions at either side of the bridge, near Britannia Road and Brinton's Road, would be upgraded "with better facilities" for buses and people walking and cycling.

The project is reliant on government funding from the Major Road Network programme due to its size and nature.

Southampton City Council said: “The next stage will be to continue to develop the business case with our partners, and, later in the year, to engage with stakeholders and the public on the proposals for this important new crossing.”

The bridge replacement is included in the government’s Network North scheme of £36bn of transport investment, which was announced after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak scrapped the Birmingham to Manchester phase of HS2.

The Department for Transport has provided £2.32m to develop the plans.

The council said it was seeking funding for the scheme, along with Network Rail and Transport for South East.

Campaign group SAVE Britain’s Heritage added the bridge to its Buildings at Risk register last summer.

It said the “distinctive, unusual and locally appreciated” iron road bridge was under threat due to the proposed replacement scheme.

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