Andover Station Activ8

[RedPostJunc]

The main bus service that passes Andover station is the Activ8 Andover - Salisbury; the service is provided by two bus companies, Hampshire bus and Salisbury Reds and runs every 30 minutes during the day (except Sundays).

For some weeks, Southern Gas have been installing a new gas main in the vicinity of the station and the roads have been dug up. Mainly this has resulted in restricted access, controlled by traffic lights, but a short section of road, immediately opposite the station, was completely closed. As a result, buses were diverted from their normal route, Station Approach, to using Cross Lane.
About 10 days ago, the short section of closed road reopened. But now we have the ridiculous situation where Salisbury Red buses have reverted to the normal route, but Hampshire buses are still taking the diversionary route. Consequently, passengers waiting at the bus stop have a 50/50 chance of missing the bus!

 

[Flange Squeal]

I've had a look at BusTimes.org tracking for random days and vehicles and Stagecoach vehicles seem to generally track as running along Station Approach of late? On the plus side, if that is wrong and they are still using Cross Lane, then at least the uplift to every 20 mins Mon-Sat from this week will mean less of a wait for those skipped(!). Have you contacted Stagecoach about this?

 

[RedPostJunc]

The (Stagecoach) bus I caught on Wednesday dropped me in Cross Lane. The bus stops in Station Approach still have the "Not in Use" covers (photo taken today) and the temporary bus stops in Cross Lane are still there. I have seen people queueing at the temporary bus stops in Cross Lane, while looking out of the window of the bus I caught in Station Approach.

Have I told Stagecoach? Not exactly, but I talked with the driver about it, and she said she would report it to control. Hopefully, that will get the matter sorted!

 

[Mollman]

It will depend a lot on what communication there has been from the contractors and council. Is there a chance that they will close the road again for a second phase of works or had the work finished early?

 

[RedPostJunc]

The work on that patch of road is finished, and it has been resurfaced. But a fairly long stretch along The Avenue is still dug up, allowing single line traffic controlled by traffic lights.