TRAFFIC problems near Costco in Southampton are set to be monitored to find a solution to “horrendous” congestion in recent weeks.
As previously reported, residents of Regents Park Road have been left frustrated by shoppers and drivers seeking cheaper petrol at Costco in Southampton.
Hundreds of motorists have been queueing on roads close to the budget store and petrol station which has led to some residents considering moving.
But now the council says it is monitoring the situation with the aim of seeing what can be done to alleviate the issues.
READ MORE: Costco traffic in Southampton leaves residents considering moving house
Ward councillor for the area, David Furnell told the Echo that a traffic survey is due to be carried out to see if any mitigation measures can be put in place.
He said: “Myself and Councillor (Eamonn) Keogh are going to go down and visit with traffic officers next week.
“Something needs to be done because they’re creating a problem, so we need some sort of mitigation there.”
He added however that the road has been a problem “even before Costco”.
“What would ideally happen is we could change the frequency of the traffic lights, but we can’t do that because Millbrook Road is the main road coming into Southampton.
“I think long term we need to make sure we have less traffic on the road and changing the way we travel.”
Southampton transport boss Cllr Keogh said there is a difficulty because the traffic isn’t bad all of the time.
He said: “As I understand it, the difficulty is that the increase in traffic isn’t all the time it’s only at certain periods.
“It’s all very difficult because you could put in some measures and find that in a month or two the problem has diminished.
“I would expect that Costco, when they see this is happening are also putting in some mitigation to help manage the traffic because they’ve got a responsibility to neighbours in their area.
“It’s about making sure that the measures that you put in actually help deal with the problem and it may well be that in a few months the problem may or may not go away.”
The Echo approached Costco for more information on the problem, but it declined to comment.
Another ward Cllr for the area, Jeremy Moulton called the congestion “horrendous”.
He said residents have been in touch over the problem.
He said: “I have already raised it with the council’s highways team, and they’ve agreed to do some vehicle monitoring.
“That will just be assessing exactly what’s happening. I have also asked them if there’s anything they can do immediately.
“Particularly people have been contacting me who live in Whitehouse Garden. They can’t get out of their road because the traffic is just solid.
“The whole thing has just been blocked up. We’ve been raising concerns about Costco and the impact, particularly with this petrol station for some weeks.”
He added that one solution may be getting Costco to carry out traffic management during busy periods.
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