Update: Friday 28 February
Phase one - replacing our medium pressure gas main
The team on site have made excellent progress and we are now in the final stages of completing phase one, replacing the medium pressure gas main within the southbound carriageway.
From Monday 3 March for approximately two weeks, we'll have a temporary southbound lane closure outside the old News Centre.
From Monday 10 March for approximately three weeks, we’ll be moving down the road and have a temporary southbound lane closure outside the Coach and Horses pub.
Phase two - replacing our low pressure gas main
From Monday 24 March until approximately mid-June, we'll be replacing the low-pressure gas main in the northern carriageway of London Road. These works will be less disruptive than phase one, involving lane closures as works progress. We'll provide further updates as works progress here.
Update: Wednesday 12 February
From 11pm on Sunday 16 February to 5am on Saturday 22 February, we will be temporarily closing the right turn lane from London Road into Northern Parade. This closure is immediately following the planned weekend of disruptive lane closures as previously advised (see Friday 31 January update below).
Phase one of the medium pressure gas main replacement on London Road is progressing well. Our temporary weekend lane closures are giving the engineering team enough road space to safely increase how much work they can carry out. They are now further ahead than our original plan.
We need to work across the right turn lane on London Road into Northern Parade. For everyone’s safety, a temporary lane closure is required. This is to allow the team to carry out a road crossing to connect our newly laid gas main to the existing network, which was replaced on a previous project.
Map showing the location of the lane closure in red and the diversion route in blue.
This temporary closure means vehicles will not be able to turn right into Northern Parade, or head northbound back to the roundabout. Traffic will need to continue southbound and divert around the Coach & Horses gyratory to head to Northern Parade or northbound to the A3.
We are replacing all the metallic Victorian gas mains on London Road. Replacing these gas mains is essential to ensure we can continue to provide residents with a safe and efficient gas supply and avoid further disruptive emergency repairs in the future.
We appreciate this closure may be disruptive for road users. The team will be working as quickly and as safely as possible to complete the work required across this challenging location.
We’re sorry for any inconvenience caused and thank you for your continued patience and support.
Update: Friday 31 January
To enable the gas main replacement work to progress on London Road and into the verge, we’re planning two weekends of major lane closures on London Road, the Portsbridge roundabout and roads approaching the roundabout.
We understand these weekend lane closures will be extremely disruptive for road users. However, this will mean we can carry out 24-hour working to move from working in the road to the grass verge next to the Portsbridge South Car Park. We will then continue to work along a section of London Road with a single lane closure so we can continue to work safely in this area during this first phase of work in this area in 2025.
To enable our teams to move our work from the road to the verge, we will need to remove a small number of trees and bushes. Once our work is complete, we will plant new sapling trees and bushes.
Weekend lane closures 7pm on the Friday to 5am on the Monday:
- Friday 7 February to Monday 10 February
- Friday 14 February to Monday 17 February
The following will apply for both weekends:
- Hilsea dedicated slip lane from the A27/M27 will be closed
- London Road southbound will be down to a single lane
- Portsbridge roundabout lane closures will be in place, with a single lane remaining open
- Bus stops will be temporarily closed within lane closures – we advise bus passengers to contact their service providers for the latest update on changes to bus stop locations and timetables. This will include the Donaldson Road bus stop between McDonald's and Portsbridge Roundabout
We advise road users to plan ahead, and for motorists to avoid the area and find alternative routes wherever possible during the weekend works.
Following these weekends, our engineers will continue to work on replacing the gas main in the area but this will require less traffic management due to the location of the work. London Road southbound will have a lane closure between location and location.
Once this phase of work is complete we will begin phase two in April 2025 - further details will be provided on this page.
Update: Friday 24 January
Following on from yesterday's udpate, the team are making excellent progress despite the complexities of the work involved on this site. We've managed to install 115 metres of large diameter gas pipe, while navigating the challenges of the significant critical infrastructure located underground, such as old tram lines and major high voltage cables supplying electricity to Portsmouth properties.
We're continuing to work closely with Portsmouth City Council and Colas. From Tuesday 28 January, we're increasing the size of our engineering team on site to ensure our plans remain on track.
Update: Thursday 23 January
We're continuing essential work to replace our medium pressure and low pressure metallic pipes in London Road, Hilsea. By replacing these pipes, we'll be able to provide a safe and efficient gas supply for Portsmouth residents and businesses for many years to come, and prevent disruptive emergency repair work in future.
We recognise this project has caused significant traffic congestion so far and we're doing everything we can to minimise the impact of our upgrade work. We're regularly reviewing the traffic management and making changes where possible. Following recent conversations with Portsmouth City Council and Colas, we have:
- Opened the southbound bus lane under the flyover to try and ease congestion at peak times
- Increased the signage on the approach to Portsbridge Roundabout to encourage drivers to use alternative routes
- Rescheduled other non-essential works planned in the area to avoid any additional impact on the local road network
A reminder of our phases of work for this project can be found below:
Phase one: Monday 6 January to Monday 31 March
We're replacing 430m of medium-pressure gas main on London Road from Northern Parade to Portsbridge Roundabout. We're using an open cut method, involving digging trenches in the ground, to complete this work.
We will have one lane closed northbound and one lane closed southbound to allow us to complete these works safely. The northbound lane will reopen during peak hours to help traffic flow out of Portsmouth.
Phase two: from Tuesday 1 April - end date to be confirmed
We'll be replacing the low-pressure gas pipes on London Road from Northern Parade to Portsbridge Roundabout. This work will be completed using an insertion method, which will significantly reduce the time to complete this phase.
We are currently reviewing traffic management proposals for these works but expect them to be similar to phase one - we’ll keep you updated here as work progresses, including an end date once confirmed.
We are unable to complete both the medium pressure and low-pressure replacement work at the same time – our engineers will complete the medium-pressure replacement first in phase one, and we’ll carry on to complete the low-pressure replacement in phase two.
Bus routes may be affected – our work may result in bus stop suspensions and changes to timetables. We advise passengers to contact their service provider for the latest updates/changes to service.
We’re sorry for any inconvenience and thank you for your continued patience and understanding.
Original post
Following further gas escapes identified on the gas mains along London Road in Hilsea, we will be replacing all of the old metallic gas pipes with new plastic pipes to ensure we can continue to provide a safe and efficient gas supply to the community. By replacing the old metal pipes we can provide a permanent solution to gas leaks on these mains in the future.
To enable us to plan the replacement work, further investigations and camera surveys of the gas mains are planned.
Due to the location of the gas pipes in the road, traffic management measures will be required around our survey locations. To help minimise the disruption for road users, we’ve planned the surveys in the following phases.
Phase one – from Tuesday 6 November
London Road: bus lane closure
A temporary bus stop suspension will be required.
We’ll be working from outside the Melted Sandwich shop to outside Parade Court.
Phase two – from Monday 11 November
London Road: northbound lane closure
We’ll be working in a small section outside the Shell garage.
Phase three – from Monday 18 November
Northern Parade – temporary bus lane closure
Temporary bus stop suspension on the junction of London Road.
We’ll be working along a section of Northern Parade from the junction of Hilsea Crescent to the junction of London Road.
Phase four – Monday 18 November
Military Road will be temporarily closed at its junction with London Road. There will be no vehicle access in and out of Military Road.
London Road – lane closure for northbound traffic from the end of the bus stop outside Southdown View to approximately 10m past Military Road.
We understand how disruptive ongoing gas works have been for residents and assure you we’ll be doing all we can to minimise disruption and complete our investigations as quickly as possible.
Once we have planned the replacement work, we’ll update you accordingly here.
We’re sorry for any inconvenience we may cause and thank you for your patience and understandin
