A NEW road has been officially opened - wide enough for a tram that might never arrive.

Civic leaders gathered at Westbury Manor Museum to open Harper Way, named after the late Commander Malcolm Harper, OBE, the town's first Honorary Alderman.

The road was designed so that it was wide enough to hold the proposed

supertram linking Fareham to Gosport and Portsmouth.

Now it has been revealed that the Fareham Loop portion of the Light Rapid Transit scheme linking the train station and the bus station might be dropped because it will carry too few passengers.

The Daily Echo revealed last week that the plans for the tram were back on track after being thrown out in July for being too costly at £270m.

Hampshire County Council and Portsmouth City Council put their heads together and managed to reduce the cost by £100m.

But that meant that something had to go and it was the Fareham Loop linking the train station and bus station.

The road was meant to honour Mr Harper, who dedicated his time and energy to the town and wanted to see it progress into the 21st century.

At the dedication, leader of Fareham Council, Sean Woodward, said there were very few people who had roads named after them.

He added: "Market Quay is heading towards the future.

"Harper Way was meant as a service road but it looks like it is going to be something other than we thought.

"We initially thought there was going to be a tram running on it but now it looks like there isn't.

"So it is going to remain a wide road for a lot longer than we anticipated - perhaps even the widest in Fareham."

The new bid for the tram has been submitted to the Department for Transport and will be decided on in coming months.

It is hoped it will alleviate up to 3 million car journeys a year on the M27 and A32.