The Royal Navy’s new Queen Elizabeth Carrier is expected to arrive in its home port of Portsmouth from Thursday to Tuesday 22 August, depending on the tide and weather conditions.
It is the biggest most powerful ship built for the Royal Navy and secures the future of Portsmouth Naval base jobs for the next 50 years. Its presence will also provide a significant economic boost to the area with local businesses set to benefit from a variety of opportunities to support and maintain the ongoing running of the ship and its crew.
The eyes of the world will be on Portsmouth and tens of thousands of people are expected to come to the city to see the carrier arriving. This will cause significant disruption and people are advised to carefully plan any journeys taken on the arrival day and allow extra time to travel.
The city council wants to ensure everyone is able to safely enjoy this historic occasion and are working to make this happen while trying to minimise disruption to residents and businesses.
To this end, the council has written a helpful letter to residents and local businesses about various matters affecting the city when the HMS Queen Elizabeth arrives. The key information is as follows:
There will be various road closures in the city including the following in Old Portsmouth and Southsea:
- Clarence Esplanade (Southsea seafront) road closure: Due to the high number of people expected on the seafront, part of Clarence Esplanade seafront road is being closed as a safety measure. The road will be closed between Clarence Pier and the D-Day Museum car park, details of when this closure will be in place will be announced nearer the time. Unauthorised vehicles left in this area will be removed.
- Old Portsmouth road closures: Because of the large number of people expected in the area, we will be closing Bath Square or Broad Street north of the junction with East Street. There will be no parking on these roads and any vehicles parked here will be removed. Details on timings for these restrictions will be announced nearer the time.
- Old Portsmouth access restricted to resident and local businesses:
On the day of arrival, from the early morning, only Old Portsmouth residents and businesses will be able to drive beyond the junction of High Street and Pembroke Road. This is being done as a safety measure because of the large number of people expected to be visiting the area. Only vehicles with valid permits for KA zone will be able to gain access to the following roads:- East Street
- Seager’s Court
- Trimmers Court
- Bath Street
- West Street
- Tower Street
- Tower Alley
- Bath Square
- Bathing Lane
- White Hart Road
- Captains Row
- Oyster Mews
- Merchants Row
- French Street
- Oyster Street
- St Thomas’s Street
- Camber Place
- Grand Parade
- Penny Street (south of Pembroke Road)
The city council appreciate this may cause some inconvenience but hope you can appreciate we are doing this to minimise disruption overall and keep everyone safe.
If you have to travel within the city on the carrier arrival day the council would appreciate it if you can avoid driving if at all possible and use public transport, cycle or walk.
If you are expecting any visitors or deliveries we would be very grateful if you are able to share this advice with them, so they can either avoid the carrier arrival times or allow extra time for their journeys.
Advice on travelling to or in Portsmouth and information on road closures can be found at www.portsmouth.gov.uk/qecarrier
UPDATE: due to weather conditions the carrier’s arrival date moved to Wednesday 16 August 2017
