Potential Traffic Chaos In Southampton For QPR Game Friday, 25th Aug 2023 14:43 Those intending to travel to St Mary's for the visit of Queens Park Rangers should be aware of potential travel issues getting into the City Centre, with not only road works, train strikes and cruise ships causing congestion but also Southampton Pride weekend. There could not be a worse time for what is now at time of writing, only 89 tickets short of a sell out at St Mary's for the 3pm kick off against Queens Park Rangers on Saturday, so here we look at what the potential problems could be. By Train. There will be two trains an hour running along the main line between London Waterloo & Southampton Central, however they will not go past Southampton to Bournemouth & Poole, so there is no service into the City from the West, likewise no trains will run on the line from Salisbury or from Portsmouth,, meaning that fans that usually get the train in to the City from those routes will have to seek other options. The last train from Southampton to Waterloo on Saturday evening will depart Central Station at 5.45pm, for home supporters this perhaps not be an issue, with the shortest walking route to the station being 1.3 miles and 26 minutes, but for QPR fans it will be longer as they will be directed via Britannia Road can expect to add 5 minutes to their journey. But this timescale is assuming that there are no crowds and walking pace will be slower due to the high volume of people who will walk back to the City Centre, both for trains or otherwise. Given that the last game saw 9 minutes of added time in the second half alone it could be that the game night not finish until well gone 5pm, that could make it very tight for some of the away fans to make the last train back to Waterloo. By Road The roads into the City will be even more crowded than usual, that is due to not only roadworks , but the fact that there will be 4 cruise ships in the Docks on Saturday, one of which is the Iona, this ship alone has 6,000 passengers embarking from noon on Saturday. There are also roadworks that are causing delays into the City, the biggest being Winchester Road that could lead to tailbacks on the A33 on the Avenue, for those coming in from the North and the M3 I would suggest heading on to the M27 Eastbound and coming off at the first exit Junction 5 Southampton Airport and then following directions into the City via Stoneham Way A335. Parking With Southampton Pride in full swing the City Centre is going to be busier than usual and this will cause issues in the centre of the City and crosstown traffic, it will be easier to find parking as near to your point of entry as you can and to use the car parks outside of the City Centre, even consider street parking outside the parking zones, it may be an extra 10 minute walk, but it could save you more than that in time. Southampton Pride This will mean the City centre will be even more packed than usual and those fans who use the pubs on Above Bar Street and around Guildhall Square may find it a little more difficult to get in them. There is a Parade from Queens Park near Dock Gate 4 which will travel from there, up the High Street, down Above Bar Street through the Precinct and to Guildhall Square, arriving at noon this will see road closures and large crowds. In General I would advise all people to aim to arrive a little earlier than usual to get to the ground, also if you are using car parks to the west of the City Centre, be aware that crossing Above Bar Street will be very crowded and this will indeed be the case when returning to the station when it is get the 5.45pm train or be stuck. Photo: Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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