Letter: A3 Access Essential To Attract Motorists To Onslow Park & Ride

Published on: 13 Jun, 2017
Updated on: 14 Jun, 2017

From Bibhas Neogi

In response to: Guildford Alderman Raises Park & Ride Concerns

Access from the A3 is essential in attracting motorists to this Park & Ride. The widening of the A3 at the time was shelved due to cuts in the roads programme but the scheme went ahead so as not to lose funding as pointed out in the article.

Now that Highways England (HE) is working again on the A3 improvements through Guildford, there may be an opportunity to revisit the feasibility of a direct access off the A3 but we do not know what HE might be proposing.

I have suggested a possible layout that eliminates the dreadful on-slip from the A31 on to the A3, a site of numerous accidents, and create a new route for the off-slip that passes by the Park & Ride with an entry to and an exit from it.

Merging the A31 with the A3 and at the same time widening the A3 is a tricky task considering the terrain and the two existing bridges in that area. Disruption during any works is also a very big factor when redesigning these routes.

I have sketched out a way to achieve these changes and yet keeping the disruptions to a minimum. I hope the HE would find all these ideas on the A3 useful, if not already thinking along the same lines.

Responses to Letter: A3 Access Essential To Attract Motorists To Onslow Park & Ride

Bibhas Neogi Reply

June 15, 2017 at 6:54 am

The link to my website had been removed by the moderator, I am told, following a complaint that the website was taking the visitors to advertisements and offers etc.

These websites are free and these days internet is full of advertisements. The readers can easily close these tabs by clicking on the cross at the top right-hand corner of their screens or when there are ‘continue to site’ or ‘go back’ messages are displayed.

Apologies for the inconvenience but the information on these sketches are far more important and readers should not be denied the benefit of these visuals and explanatory notes that accompany them so that the suggested improvements could be properly understood and could lead to discussions about their merits or flaws.

The links need not be shown here, instead, the readers could search for ‘revamp Guildford gyratory’ to access the main website and the links from there if so wished.
Bibhas Neogi Reply

June 20, 2017 at 12:13 am

Enthusiasm in getting Guildford traffic into a manageable level amongst the readers seems somewhat non-existent. My efforts over the years have made little impact.

So I have decided to call it a day. I will take my websites down in the next few days. Many thanks to The Guildford Dragon NEWS for posting my various comments over the years.
- Jim Allen Reply
  
  June 21, 2017 at 8:59 am
  
  It is with sadness I read this. While not always agreeing with Bibhas, at least he’s putting rational arguments forward.
- John Perkins Reply
  
  June 21, 2017 at 9:42 am
  
  I’m sorry to hear that Mr Neogi feels his effort has been wasted.
  
  He should take heart from the fact that, whilst he has had no obvious direct effect, it is possible his ideas have influenced others.
  
  If people appear apathetic it’s surely because for many of them their lives allow little time to ponder those things that they have already paid various parts of government to attend to.
  
  Don’t give up. At the very least, outsiders’ ideas can show a paucity of thought on the part of those whose job it is to resolve issues.
Bibhas Neogi Reply

June 20, 2017 at 8:54 pm

If images/sketches have been saved by the readers, please do not use them for commercial purposes. Google maps are copy wright material. Thank you.
Fiona Curtis Reply

June 22, 2017 at 5:05 pm

It would be a real shame to give up now, wouldn’t it?

We know how frustrating it can be, but traffic is such a major issue, surely all efforts should be applauded, especially if they are well thought out and written with a degree of expertise?

There are sites that are free (Moonfruit) that are easy to use and manage that don’t have adverts. It’s a bit of a faff transferring, but hopefully worth it.
- Bibhas Neogi Reply
  
  June 23, 2017 at 9:53 pm
  
  If the Councils and The Highways England do want to explore these ideas, they could contact me via Martin Giles of The Dragon.
Lisa Wright Reply

June 23, 2017 at 6:42 pm

We must keep pushing for change.

Whilst I believe Mr Bridger’s initial letter regarding adding a dedicated entrance to the park and ride site at Onslow seems a bit like “lets have a separate, dedicated route into Blackwell Farm from the A3 to make the University proposed housing development easier”, the site is never more than half full.

The majority of those cars seem to be associated with the university or hospital, so something must be done to make it easier to access or we must scrap the idea and make better use of that land.

I’m not sure of the size but it looks about five acres, enough for hundreds of apartments. And there’s plenty of surrounding land that could be also be developed.
Ben Paton Reply

June 24, 2017 at 9:01 pm

The measure of brilliance is not success but truth.

The greatness of a book is not in how many copies it sells.

Truth is elusive – but we have to continue to seek it. So publish and the council be damned if it pays no heed.
- Bibhas Neogi Reply
  
  June 25, 2017 at 5:30 pm
  
  Thank you Ben Paton for your encouraging words. I have reinstated the website.
Neville Bryan Reply

June 26, 2017 at 7:13 am

Well done Mr Neogi. And keep writing please.

While I do not always agree with your articles, the passion, and good motivation ring out, and there is not enough of that showing from the professionals and senior electoral representatives of Guildford.

As for the white elephant of the Onslow Park and ride, Ms Wright has it spot on. It’s never close to being fully used, even at peak shopping periods, and the main users appears have hospital and University badges, perhaps that’s why those body’s are so keen not to see change. At £9m or whatever it cost, this P&R is not fit for purpose.

The is an excellent example of land, if there were a “will” which should be student housing. So students union why are you silent on this site?
- Bibhas Neogi Reply
  
  June 30, 2017 at 12:29 pm
  
  The 2003 planning brief could be found by searching for ‘university of surrey planning application for manor park’. In this document the following paragraphs are worthy of note:
  
  “3.4 In addition, the Highways Agency require that alongside the A3 a strip of land 10 metres wide should be protected from development as a reservation for possible future widening of the A3. To take account of this loss of land a further 10 metre strip for replacement planting should be required.
  
  “5.4 In addition, the site has the capacity to accommodate a new Park & Ride car park to meet the county and borough council’s desire to have such a facility on the A3 approach to the town from the west. Although not part of the university campus and not essential to its functioning, a site for this facility should be reserved.”
  
  It is evident that there is land available to locate the off-slip of the A3 on this stretch and that there is a possibility of connecting the Park & Ride to this off-slip. The added benefit would be that the A3 northbound need not be widened along this stretch as the existing two lanes would continue until the new on-slip from Tesco roundabout becomes a lane gain by virtue of widening northwards to Stoke Road Interchange.
  
  As I said before, this link could have been incorporated into the A3 widening but the scheme was dropped due to cuts in the roads programme. Of course I have no idea what the Highways Agency and Surrey County Council were planning to do then but now that the Highways England are considering the A3 widening, the possibility has presented itself again and it should be explored.
Fiona White Reply

July 1, 2017 at 4:34 pm

I suggested this when the original plans for the park & ride site were put forward. Please see my letter in another thread for more details.