Letter: A3 Pollution Levels Should be Considered Now

Published on: 31 Oct, 2015
Updated on: 31 Oct, 2015

A traffic jam on the A3 by Burpham

From Jim Allen

After a year of asking I have now got hold of the pollution predictor based on traffic levels. It raises and important question.

Should we wait around until 2020, when a review is expected, before we start discussing what should be done with the A3, or act now?

The extra pollution effect of slow moving traffic

With the proposed new housing projects around Burpham – 2,000 new houses in Gosden Hill, 1,000 in Merrow and a further 1,000 in Slyfield – the pollution levels from the traffic when running will rise by 20% based on an expected car ownership of 1.8 cars per house, the current Burpham average.

The table shows the importance of making the A3 free flowing. Pollution levels are much higher when the traffic starts to crawl.