Road: Closure. Bypass?

March 1, 2010 at 10:08 pm · Filed under Local Matters, Transport

I’m delighted to write that the Wrecclesham Village Society will be hosting a Wrecclesham Road Forum next Thursday 11th March, at the Community Centre on Greenfield Road. Jeremy Hunt MP will be speaking at this great opportunity for residents to continue to articulate their views on the idea of a bypass for Wrecclesham.

Also in relation to roads, it seems that there’s fairly prompt action on pot holes in Wrecclesham shortly. Following the snow, our roads took a beating as the snow melted and each and ever crack in our roads was expanded and broken. And so, Surrey County Council have issued notice that the full length of Echo Barn Lane, Shortheath Road and Ridgeway will be closed for two weeks at some point during the 18 month period from 15th March 2010.

Now, that probably seems as crazy to you as it does to me. A two week period at some point in an 18 month window? Can’t it be more specific? I’m pretty certain however, that the 18 month window is the standard way of awarding road closure notices, which gives sufficient flexibility if priorities have to be dramatically changed due to unforeseen circumstances. I have this morning emailed SCC to ask for more clarity and especially a more specific set of dates if at all possible.

Unfortunately, as normal, the diversion route for high vehicles will be along Weydon Lane, which compromises the safety of school pupils along this route. I acknowledge that the low bridge of Wrecclesham Road hamstrings the highways department, but it simply isn’t acceptable that a long-term solution seems nowhere in sight. Let’s hope that the forum next Thursday can help to build pressure on the County Council to do something about it.

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Winter – Wrecclesham Roads Update

January 6, 2010 at 4:07 pm · Filed under Local Matters, Transport

Update from Ian Clarke: Surrey County Councillor, Cabinet Member for Transport

Surrey County Council is preparing for the next cold snap which is predicted to bring ice and snow with it this week.

Our fleet of gritters spread around 6,000 tonnes of salt on the county’s roads during the Christmas and New Year period to keep motorists moving. Around 4,000 tonnes was used in one week alone during the worst weather to keep people safe. When you take into account an average Surrey winter usually requires 6,000 tonnes of salt in total, it is clear there has been an unusually high demand and the council has less salt reserves than it would like to have at this time of year.

In an effort to preserve our stocks we have decided only to salt the county’s A roads for which we are responsible and routes to hospitals with accident and emergency departments until reserves can be replenished. This represents about 25 per cent of the county’s roads network.

Before the cold weather began we had stockpiled almost 9,000 tonnes of salt, an increase of approximately 30% on the amount held last year. The council has orders in place for more salt but a higher than expected national demand has led to a shortage across the country and deliveries are not guaranteed. The council currently has almost 2,800 tonnes of salt in reserve. A delivery is due this week of 270 tonnes from the national body responsible and there are another 1,260 tonnes on order. The council’s contractor Ringway has also ordered 1,000 more tonnes from Spain which is due to be delivered in the next few days.

The situation is currently being co-ordinated for the South East by the Government Office for the South East.

We learnt lessons from last February’s extreme weather and stockpiled thousands of tonnes more salt than in previous years. However, the whole country has experienced exceptionally cold weather so far this winter so we need to be sensible with our stocks and concentrate on keeping the busiest roads clear until we can replenish our salt reserves.

We will be working extremely hard with the resources we have to make Surrey’s roads as safe as possible. If we do get very bad weather this week our advice to people is to only make journeys you really have to. We will however identify locations that could be isolated by the bad weather and we will do all we can to salt these routes if at all possible.

The council’s 1,400 salt bins will continue to be filled but with sand so salt can be reserved for the roads.

Severe weather may lead to school closures and parents are asked to contact their children’s school directly or visit the school’s website for the latest information. The council’s individual school transport contractors will decide if it is necessary to cancel any routes and will contact those using the service directly if this happens. Vulnerable people are being looked after during the cold weather with social workers visiting their homes to make sure they are safe and well. Surrey Fire and Rescue has also offered the use of 4×4 vehicles to get social workers to remote locations if needed.

Surrey County Council’s Contact Centre is expecting a high number of calls during the bad weather. It is important the most vulnerable can speak to someone so we would ask residents to consult the council’s website before calling to see if their question can be answered online – visit www.surreycc.gov.uk. Council staff are being advised to discuss any problems they may have getting to work with their line managers.

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