As part of the South East Dorset Local Transport Plan 3 (LTP3), government funding was won to create a package of measures in and around the three local authorities (Bournemouth, Poole and Dorset) to help create a lasting step change in low carbon travel.
The package aims to improve bus, rail, walking and cycling facilities to encourage sustainable travel and reduce dependence on the car. Three Towns Travel will encourage more people to travel on foot, by bus, bike and electric cars by making physical changes to infrastructure, signage and landscaping.
Bournemouth transport hub
A £1.5 million project to open up Bournemouth Travel Interchange and make it more welcoming for visitors will begin in the New Year. The improvements will make the train station and adjacent bus and coach station more traveller-friendly and improve the experience for the millions of people – business people, residents and tourists – who use Bournemouth’s public transport
Changes to the layout and better signposting will make bus, taxi and cycling facilities easier to use and access. Improvements to the train station’s canopy will admit more natural light and give a more spacious feel to the platforms. The booking office area is being extended to cut queues. Waiting areas, kiosks and refreshment facilities are also being upgraded with a bright new look.
The work is part of Bournemouth council’s Three Towns Travel programme and is in partnership with South West Trains. The project is due to complete by the end of the summer. Cash for the work is coming from government grants, along with £400,000 from South West Trains, which is also funding the station works.
Yellow Bus network
Yellow Buses has invested nearly £1 million in five brand new buses. The Volvo Wright Gemini double-deckers now operate on routes across Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch. This brings the number of vehicles inYellow’s fleet to over 150 and follows a £1.4m investment earlier in 2014 to introduce 10 new StreetLite Max single deck buses.
Bournemouth International Airport
Bournemouth Airport is a key national and international gateway to southern England, annually serving around 600,000 passengers and 36 destinations. The airport terminal recently underwent a £45 million investment, providing air travellers to and from the South Coast region of England with a new and greatly improved passenger experience. Bournemouth Airport supports 900 full-time equivalent jobs which contribute more than £24 million to the local economy.
Ryanair and Thomson Airways already operate flights from Bournemouth to major European destinations and will be joined by Flybe in 2015, flying to Glasgow from March, and from May to Amsterdam, Manchester, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Jersey, Dublin, Deauville, Toulon and Biarritz. Bournemouth Airport said Flybe’s return could bring an extra 300,000 passengers and up to 50 new jobs.
Bournemouth Airport managing director Paul Knight says:
“The new routes to Manchester, Amsterdam and Paris are perfect for a mix of leisure and business passengers, looking to connect to these major hubs for meetings and short breaks”.
Highways infrastructure
Substantial improvements to transport infrastructure will have a major impact improving access to major business centres throughout Bournemouth and the surrounding area.
Around one third of the £66.3 million Growth Fund agreed by Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership with the Government is earmarked for a full revamp of the five-and-a-half mile Bournemouth Spur Road (A338) to connect Bournemouth Airport and its adjacent business parks more closely to Poole and Bournemouth. The scheme will assist in improving access to up to 59 hectares of development land at Aviation Park, the airport‟s associated industrial estate, hosting up to 10,000 new jobs and a further 6000 indirect/induced jobs linked to airport development.
Work on the major highway will include replacing and upgrading the safety barrier to concrete, improving drainage to solve flood problems, making the carriage-way width fit with current standards, renewing road signs and carrying out maintenance and protection to bridges. The A338 Bournemouth Spur Road currently carries nearly 60,000 vehicles a day.
The Growth Fund also includes improvements at Chapel Gate, Hurn roundabout and Blackwater interchange, as well as Bear Cross roundabout, A338 widening from Cooper Dean to Blackwater, Longham mini-roundabout and Mountbatten junctions.
Meanwhile, the A31 at Ringwood, which connects to the spur road, is to be widened to three lanes as part of the £15 billion Department of Transport road scheme.
—-Ends—–
Notes to the editor
About BH Live
BH Live is the South Coast’s leading operator of leisure and event venues – a social enterprise that designs and builds engaging experiences to inspire people and enrich lives. With over 2.5 million visits a year and over £31 million turnover, the organisation is changing lives – placing it at the heart of the UK’s growing social economy. In 2013/14, BH Live hosted 423 shows, sold over half a million cultural, sporting and entertainment tickets, clocked up 1.8 million leisure centre visits and welcomed 88,000 conference and exhibition delegates which contributed over £45 million to the local economy.
For further press information:
Elizabeth Symmons
PR & Corporate Communications Executive, BH Live
Elizabeth.Symmons@bhlive.co.uk
01202 451866