Letter: A3 Stoke Interchange ‘Improvements’ Do Not Work

Published on: 6 Sep, 2019
Updated on: 6 Sep, 2019

Stoke interchange – Google Maps

From Ben Paton

Highways England (HE) has just completed “improvement” works on the A3/ Stoke Road/ A25/ Woking Road interchange. These improvements were allegedly to improve traffic flows.

The works have continued for some six months and overran by at least a month. The cost was some £6 million.

As a regular user of this junction, my experience is that congestion is just as bad or even worse than ever.

HE has not increased the capacity of the junction to any material extent. Tailbacks onto the A3 usually occur during the rush hour despite the work on the slip road from the A3 to the interchange.

Surrey County Council Highways is presumably responsible for the crossroads of Stoke Road and the A25. It has carried out prolonged works to improve pedestrian access.

But the result is a net deterioration in traffic flows. The phasing of the traffic lights causes increased congestion rather than alleviates it. The junction is just badly designed.

The slip roads for south-bound traffic from the Stoke Road onto the A25 is just too small. The same applies to the north-bound slip onto the A25.

Stoke interchange – Google Maps

Only a town planner who has never driven a car could imagine that the existing junction is intelligently designed. After at least six months of works, there has been no improvement at all.

This part of the road network is supposedly fit to accept several thousand more cars from the new Slyfield riverside development.

SCC Highways and HE should publish the before and after capacity to flow statistics for these junctions and explain what the many millions of pounds spent have achieved.

If this is what local government considers to be “infrastructure improvement” then the civil servants live on a different planet. But then they promoted a completely unsustainable Local Plan and are completely unaccountable.

Responses to Letter: A3 Stoke Interchange ‘Improvements’ Do Not Work

Martin Elliott Reply

September 6, 2019 at 1:47 pm

I’m afraid I have to disagree with Ben Paton. There isn’t too much wrong with the minor modifications of the junction. Of course, the missing A3 slips would be nice.

The sequencing of the lights, which were meant to be syncronised between the A3 slip and crossroads and optimised for priority for buses, obviously are not yet correct.

Neither has the sequencing been changed from initial installation now all the SCC and HE works are now complete. It also needs works in Ladymead and Woodbridge Road to be completed.

Although SCC announced all these works complete, it would seem they only mean the physical works, not the traffic light operation, presumably contracted to Seimens.

I have asked Cllr Matt Furniss (SCC lead lead councillor for Highways) several times on Twitter and Facebook, why the sequencing is not optimised yet. However, despite his invitations on that media to contact him, he has not replied.

Maybe if The Dragon asks him or SCC Highways the question?

Editor’s note: Surrey County Council has been invited to comment.
Jim Allen Reply

September 6, 2019 at 6:26 pm

Ben Paton is right, enlarging capacity of the upstream junction while decreasing the downstream junction is road planning madness.

The resulting chaos was as predictable as King Canute’s demonstration that he could not stop the tide.

As for the other two slips on-south and off-north, these were given pre-permission in 1981 subject to the “new” road to Slyfield (now built many years ago) by the roads planning inspector during the by-pass hearing. All that was needed was SCC to apply and Highways Agency to build them. Sadly they don’t individually know the real need and neither can agree the way forward.
Lachlan Anthony Reply

September 6, 2019 at 8:38 pm

I also disagree with Ben Paton the junction improvements have really helped with traffic.

It’ll be interesting when the new Gosden Hill junction is built.
Brian Holt Reply

September 6, 2019 at 9:06 pm

Every time I drive through this junction it’s now more congested. When coming from Woking direction, the traffic has to stop at the traffic lights longer, due to the extra time for the new pedestrian lights. These lights stop the traffic on all roads at the same time, this then blocks the southbound A3 slip road and vehicles cannot get out and this happens every time the traffic lights change.
Edward Symmons Reply

September 6, 2019 at 9:23 pm

I come through there most days the whole layout is a joke. You might as well bring back the roundabout.
Bibhas Neogi Reply

November 25, 2020 at 9:46 pm

Yes, indeed bring back a roundabout, but not the old one of course. A new roundabout on the A25 opposite the Lido and near the hotel entrance could be built and used to reroute traffic to Woking.

Instead of the right turn Highways England built at a cost of some £6 million, all traffic off the A3 southbound slip road would turn left. Traffic bound for Woking would turn left again on to the A25 and turn around at the new roundabout and turn right at the traffic lights. This would improve the flow of traffic to the A3 northbound on-slip and Woking-bound traffic.

I know when the readers have spotted the word ’roundabout’, by this time they are likely to switch off and not bother to read on. However, at the risk of “creating a pie in the sky where traffic would disappear off the rear bumper” etc., I would humbly request the reader to look up the document https://drive.google.com/file/d/17Opbo82bOEHsteLU7e0dm_N3bKDhpHf3/view
that outlines possible improvements of this junction and other aspects of town centre traffic improvements, bus station relocation and a new east-west crossing over the tracks and the river. A Google account is needed to view this document.

This A3 interchange should be made all-directional as Jim Allen had mentioned in his comments above. I also show this on my website.