Dragon Interview: Walnut Tree Close Traffic Restriction Proposals

Published on: 24 Aug, 2018
Updated on: 26 Sep, 2018

Trials of two different road schemes to reduce traffic in Walnut Tree Close, originally scheduled for late 2017 or early this year (2018), might not commence now until next year but are still to go ahead.

Two options are to be trialled, each for six months. The first option is for the road to be blocked for all through traffic, except bikes and emergency vehicles. The second is for the road to be made one way, so only for traffic moving south to north, or from the station towards Ladymead.

Option 1 – A closure to all through-traffic except cyclists and emergency vehicles using a locked barrier at a single location. The barrier would be located north of Guildford Railway station, near the junction leading to Yorkies Bridge.

The proposals have been overseen by the Guildford Local Committee made up of representatives from Surrey County Council (SCC) and Guildford Borough Council (GBC). The aim of the changes is to:

Reduce peak-hour queuing at both ends of Walnut Tree Close
Improve safety for all road users
Reduce the conflict between traffic exiting Walnut Tree Close and the gyratory
Create a more pleasant environment along the road to encourage more walking and cycling

Option 2 – A one-way traffic restriction upon southbound vehicles along a section of Walnut Tree Close, approximately 120m in length. Traffic would be permitted through this section in a northbound direction only, except cyclists and emergency vehicles which would be able to travel both ways.

County Cllr Keith Taylor, (Con, Shere) who chairs the Local Committee was interviewed on site by The Guildford Dragon:

A public consultation was conducted in 2016 and detailed information was provided on the two proposals. 630 questionnaires were completed and the respondents were roughly one third in favour of Closing the road to through traffic, a third in favour of making it one-way and a third in favour of neither option (see: Walnut Tree Close consultation report).

Pie chart showing how many respondents in the public survey were in favour of the different options.

A Guildford station taxi driver, who did not wish to give his name, or be filmed, said that he was himself a resident of Walnut Tree Close. “This whole thing started when a woman resident started a petition. She asked me to sign, saying the reduction of traffic would increase the value of my house. I refused and, in any case, she’s moved away now.”

He and his colleague both thought that the Walnut Tree Close traffic would simply be displaced, making other, parallel roads busier.

Lauren Horncastle, a Woking resident working in Walnut Tree Close in a tech company said: “I did not take part in the survey but for me, it would depend on where they block the road. I do drive in from Woking and I don’t want to have to go all the way round by Woodbridge Road and the gyratory to get here.

But she admitted that traffic levels on the close were a problem: “Sometimes, in the rush hour, it can take about 45min to just get out of Walnut Tree Close.

I do like to cycle to work when possible, in better weather, but the road is horrible for cyclists and pedestrians so maybe reducing traffic could be a nice idea. Maybe rather than blocking the road they should put in speed bumps?

Our second video interview is with Samantha Sinclair from Edge Case Games:

Joe Kilner and Jarl Ostensen from Polystream, another tech company located on Walnut Tree Close, said: “The main thing is the positioning of any block. Obviously, this road is crucial for us getting to work.

Both Joe and Jarl cycle or walk to work but 50% of their colleagues use cars.

Joe added: I don’t think tackling the traffic on this street, with either option alone, will change the traffic problem in Guildford and parking is a big issue too.

Responses to Dragon Interview: Walnut Tree Close Traffic Restriction Proposals

Martin Elliott Reply

August 24, 2018 at 4:47 pm

I agree with the final comments. Closing or restricting the road is only to the benefit of a few residents and workers.
I’d imagine it actually being a problem for others.

Can someone competent please explain how closing a busy north-south route without creating any replacement capacity will improve the problems of local traffic? Even reducing southbound traffic entering the gyratory makes little difference as the station traffic will still remain.

For some reason, there appears to be a GBC target to reduce town centre traffic by ~50%. All their wild schemes are based on that. However, they have no firm plans on where the 50% of traffic gets diverted to; it won’t just disappear. Widening and tunnelling the A3 is the only proposal, but with no firm plans or timing.

Even the latest Major Project Town Improvements are actually out of town cycle tracks along Parkside and works (again) around the university and the Royal Surrey County Hospital.
Jim Allen Reply

August 25, 2018 at 9:08 am

The council policies are based on limited experience, with knowledge gained from locations with different factors while ignoring the experience of those that are similar.

We have bus lanes on the gyratory system which are under utilised because the buses turn right and the bus lane is on the left. If we must have bus lanes they should be the centre lane of the three, allowing buses going right and left to make use of them.

We have traffic spread across three lanes at traffic lights forced into two lanes, sitting at lights with no greens in any direction and now restrictions on Walnut Tree Close without road capacity being provided elsewhere. I guess this is midsummer madness spread across the seasons.
Mary Laker Reply

August 26, 2018 at 7:37 am

I feel the proposals will displace traffic and there seems no plans to take account of this likely impact. If the A3 was widened and a tunnel built then one could consider diverting traffic from Walnut Tree Close.

Now, at this point in time, during peak periods traffic, using Guildford Park Road and Woodbridge Road as an alternative to Walnut Tree Close is hellish.

One delivery driver said if we could remove Guildford, Surrey would be a better place!

I live in Shalford. I had the difficult task of driving my granddaughter from Shalford to school near Woking over a period of several months. Whatever route I choose had to be at peak driving time. All the routes through and around Guildford were hellish.
Bernard Parke Reply

August 26, 2018 at 9:50 am

We never seem to learn from the past.

Walnut Tree Close was opened to through traffic in the sixties to relieve congestion in the Woodbridge Road.

Since then the problem of traffic congestion has worsened.
Valerie Thompson Reply

August 26, 2018 at 10:28 am

Walnut Tree Close restrictions will only benefit the residents. This is one of just a few north-south roads through Guildford. Widening or tunnelling the A3 will have no effect on through traffic in this direction. There is even talk of reducing the width of Woodbridge Road.

Adding a few thousand extra cars driven by the commuters that GBC will force onto the roads with their plans for developing outside the town and in the villages will only add to the daily misery of those trying to travel on the Goldalming or Horsham roads.
John Simpson Reply

August 26, 2018 at 12:39 pm

If parking on Walnut Tree Close was removed so would be the problem. However, I accept that people living on the road would not appreciate this. Perhaps alternative parking arrangements could be considered for them?

Also, adding new flats to the area is not helping the congestion situation either. I think it would be a retrograde step to make the road one-way or to restrict the traffic to bikes and emergency vehicles only. All this would achieve is to put more pressure on the gyratory system around the Electric Theatre and/or Guildford Park Road for those wanting to get to the Railway Station from the north of the town.

I don’t think that either of the options proposed would be welcomed by motorists or taxi drivers.
Sue Warner Reply

August 26, 2018 at 6:29 pm

Restriction or closure of Walnut Tree Close is absolute madness dreamed up by bureaucrats who don’t live here or have to negotiate Guildford on a daily basis.

Any notion should be quashed immediately but then they don’t ever listen do they? They whinge they have no money then pay extortionate amounts of money on schemes that no-one wants.
Sean Jenkinson Reply

August 27, 2018 at 8:27 am

The lights on the one-way system by the station change too quickly, so people coming out of Walnut Tree Close don’t get time to get out of the road. They need to change the timings of the lights to allow people time to get out of Walnut Tree Close or make it three-way lights at Walnut Tree Close.

Oh and put the underpass back at Debenhams, as that causes a lot of problems with traffic on the one-way system, backing up at Bridge Street, causing more problems for people getting out of Walnut Tree Close.
Bibhas Neogi Reply

August 27, 2018 at 7:52 pm

The one-way gyratory is too small for the volume of traffic during peak periods. If the signal phasing is delayed to allow exiting traffic from Walnut Tree Close a bit more time, the knock-on effect, I imagine, would be to build up queues on the approaching roads of the gyratory.

The pedestrian crossing near Debenhams has improved a bit since the signal phasing has been tweaked but it is still causing traffic to queue back and clog the gyratory. It is also making the exit from Bridge Street right-hand lane difficult at times.

The underpass has been filled in with concrete and cannot be reopened. A possible solution would be to make the crossing a two-stage one.

An island could be created by blocking off the offside northbound lane thus reducing the crossing to one lane on each side. The effect would be to shorten the time needed to cross the single lanes separately as opposed to three lanes in one go.

Pedestrians will have to wait a bit on the island but it should be acceptable considering the fact that overall it would be safer to cross the busy road this way.

Southbound traffic would have a slightly longer phasing each time as a result and hence an increased flow. Northbound traffic would queue back a bit on the single lane stretch but beyond the crossing two lanes, as usual, would be available as it is now.

There is an option to improve the flow in the gyratory. The right-hand lane on Park Street and as well as on Friary Bridge are underused. These could take a lane of cars turning right from Farnham Road in contraflow direction. Traffic then could go straight to Portsmouth Road or turn left on to Friary Bridge and right again into Millbrook.

Some work would be needed to relocate some street furniture, signalling cabinets and levelling down a couple of islands. New signposts would be needed, of course, and road markings but all this work shouldn’t require additional phasing of signals and shouldn’t cost a great deal.
Guy Sutlieff Reply

August 28, 2018 at 4:58 pm

I am utterly speechless that anybody sane can actually propose this.

Amongst many crazy ideas dreamt up by our councillors this is the winner. Reduce traffic by shutting a busy road with no alternative provision.

Madness, complete madness. Do they actually want to destroy our town?
Wayne Smith Reply

August 30, 2018 at 12:53 pm

DNP Referred to Keith Taylor for comment

Option 1 – A closure to all through-traffic except cyclists and emergency vehicles using a locked barrier at a single location.

The first thing that springs to mind is how does a locked barrier work for emergency vehicle access?
Presumably, they would need to have a key or would have to know the code for a combination lock? Surrey Fire & Rescue Service is on its knees and fire engines/staff won’t necessarily be from Guildford Fire Station and who knows where an ambulance might be from! Ambulances are provided by South East Coast Ambulance which covers a huge area. There can be no assumption that emergency service drivers will have local knowledge of locked gates and if Walnut Tree Close appears on Satnav as being closed to through traffic (as it should during the trial), why would the emergency services even be directed along it?

Can Cllr. Taylor assure us that we will not be put at risk during the trial of Option 1?

Cllr Taylor has responded: “In Guildford, and indeed throughout Surrey, there are many locations where roads are closed with locked barriers for safety or other reasons. It is standard practice to provide the emergency services with a means of getting past these barriers. This can take the form of a physical key or, increasingly these days, the code for a keypad. My impression is that these arrangements normally work well on the, fortunately rare, occasions when they are required.

“I am sure that the officers concerned will, in due course, make similar arrangements for Walnut Tree Close. However, just to be doubly sure, I will mention this to them when I next review progress on this scheme.”