The Route - Dry Canals through Portsmouth, UK

This project is a vision for a series of routes crossing the city of Portsmouth that are designed with pedestrians, cyclists and buggy users in mind, where the car would be an occasional guest.  

The routes are part of a vision for Portsmouth that is aimed at making it a liveable city.  The Route 001 starts at Castle Road in Southsea, passes through Guildhall Square, and continues for 5km (3 miles) north to Alexandra Park and the new fifty-metre swimming pool at the Mountbatten Centre.

It creates a series of vibrant places that connect the neighbourhoods of Somerstown, Landport, Buckland and Stamshaw. There are already lots of interesting things to see and do along the route - this project suggests others that could be added. It takes 1 hour to walk the entire route and 20 minutes to cycle leisurely. 

Although this particular route has been focused on, it could be the first of many (see next slide). There are very few major changes required to realise the Route in its simplest form - the starting point for all the ideas shown here is a Route that already exists and simply needs to be defined.

Some of the benefits of this proposal are:
1. Links people and communities,
2. encourages non car transit,
3. promotes healthy living and links to Healthy Towns funding,
4. regenerates under used streets in the city
5. provides opportunities for existing and new business,
6. links the new 50m Olympic swimming pool to the city centre
7. links cultural destinations in the city e.g. the birth place of Charles Dickens.
8. provides Portsmouth with an international identity and therefore boosts tourism and inward investment.