PART of a controversial cycle lane in Southampton is set to be removed.

The pop-up cycle lane on the eastern side of Hill Lane between Bellemoor Road and Burgess Road is expected to be removed once lockdown is eased.

The news has been confirmed by Southampton City Council which said that parking spaces - including extra spaces for people with disabilities- will be reinstated.

The remaining 1.3km of cycle lanes between Bellemoor Road and Archers Road will instead remain in place.

The city council said the decision has been taken as data prior to the second lockdown showed a decline in the number of people cycling and reduced social distancing pressures in The Common.

But opposition councillor Steven Galton said the temporary cycle lane between Bellemoor Road and Burgess Road “was not the right thing to do”. 

The authority said people cycling north of Bellemoor Road can continue to take advantage of the alternative routes running alongside Hill Lane in The Common and along The Avenue. 

Meanwhile, pop-up cycle lanes on Dale Road, The Avenue and Portswood Road, as well as bus lanes on Bitterne Road West will continue to be trialled and monitored.

The measures are all part of the Green Transport Recovery Plan and were launched to support social distancing and active travel in response to Covid-19.

Cllr Steve Leggett, cabinet member for green city and place, said: “Our Green Transport Recovery Plan has worked well to support social distancing and active travel - and will continue to do so. I am pleased to report that we have had very positive feedback from local residents on our strategy of temporary cycle lanes. Data we collected during this period showed how effective the schemes were, including Hill Lane, where detailed information on how people were using it, helped us adjust accordingly.”

He said the schemes are implemented using experimental and temporary traffic regulation orders which allow schemes to be trialled before a decision is made on whether or not they are modified, removed or made permanent.

But talking about the cycle lane between Bellemoor Road and Burgess Road Cllr Steven Galton, shadow cabinet member for transport, said: “It’s not a scheme that was needed to help cyclists in any way because there wasn’t a demand. There’s alternative routes. This is money that could have led to lasting improvementsrather than being spent on temporary schemes everyone knew in advance wouldn’t work or last very long.”

The news comes as some of the measures proved controversial .