One of the local road schemes that survived a recent Department for Transport (DfT) cull appears to be in trouble after a major development that is mentioned 17 times in its outline business case (OBC) was shelved.
But Hampshire County Council has said it is committed to progressing the A326 Waterside Improvement scheme, which is awaiting a decision on Local Road Network/Large Local Majors (MRN/LLM) funding, despite Associated British Ports (ABP) shelving the Solent Gateway 2 project.
The council submitted a planning application for the scheme in April and in May submitted its OBC to the DfT as part of its bid for LLM funding of £161.5m, representing 85% of a scheme cost of £187m.
The “Waterside” area lies between Southampton Water and the New Forest National Park and the scheme includes improvement works at eight junctions along the A326 corridor, widening two sections and active travel improvements.
