Letter: Benefits of New Ash Bridge Are Dubious

Published on: 27 Dec, 2024
Updated on: 27 Dec, 2024

Ash Road Bridge CGI

From Sue Wyeth-Price

R4GV borough councillor for Ash South

See: Will New Bridge Really Speed Up Journey Times?

In response to Roshan Bailey’s question asking if the new Ash bridge will really speed up traffic, the answer is clearly – not much!

AECOM, on behalf of GBC, in July 2020, produced a document to support the application: the “Applicant’s response to comments – Additional Information”. This showed “that the average net saving in journey time per car is 26 seconds, increasing to 48 seconds if the proposed rail enhancements are delivered on the North Downs line”.

My enquiries to Network Rail show no improvements are currently planned. These figures were modelled for both the “Do something” and “Do Minimum” scenarios and assumed a bridge opening date in 2021. Time savings for buses were only 12 seconds.

Somehow the same exercise anticipates a reduction of 31 seconds for cyclists and 57 seconds for pedestrians, which, given that their routes will not change as the footbridge is no longer to be delivered by GBC, but is now left to Network rail, seems rather optimistic.

The same document monetises these time savings by analysing the journey types, vehicles, etc. Without the rail enhancements, over a 60-year period, benefits total £14.44 million.

The other issue raised in Ms Bailey’s letter about any reduction in rat-running is highly unlikely to be realised. I can’t see that additional traffic will be attracted to the route from outside the area, especially given the four sets of traffic signals, two schools and considerable on-street parking on the A323 all within one kilometre of the crossing.

Local rat-running will be worse. Foreman Road will be the main diversion route for several weeks whilst the works take place on the A323. Even after the A323 has reopened it will continue to be the main access route to the bridge from the new developments in Grange Road, South Lane and Ash Lodge Park, and for the additional 84 houses off Foreman Road awaiting approval: that’s a total of more than 630 new houses.

Two applications have been approved in Ash Green Road (100 homes) and there is a live application for 54 houses in the same road. A further two applications have been approved in Harpers Road for another 75 houses.

None of these sites with their 850+ houses have a direct access to the bridge for motorised vehicles, so have no choice but to use the rat runs. Worryingly for local residents, none of these narrow country roads are well-lit or furnished with pavements, and there seems to be no plan to deliver these.

£44 million seems a lot to pay for those 26 seconds and £14.44 million economic benefit.

Responses to Letter: Benefits of New Ash Bridge Are Dubious

Jim Allen Reply

December 27, 2024 at 2:30 pm

I strongly suspect that Cllr Wyeth-Price has done “due diligence” and read the documents – like all councillors should do before voting for and against projects which have recently emerged from wrong or corrected pre-sign-offs.
Roger Kendall Reply

December 27, 2024 at 5:52 pm

Personal experience is not scientific evidence but I have regularly sat for ten minutes at that crossing and no doubt many others will have sat waiting for the second train before the gates have opened. The new bridge is certainly needed and with Labour intent on removing local democracy and building thousands of homes in the area we will need this and many more road improvements.
John Ferns Reply

December 28, 2024 at 5:51 pm

We can all agree with Mr Kendall’s statement that “personal experience is not scientific evidence.” However, how often have we, as residents with local knowledge, challenged Surrey Highways’ questionable data, only to see government inspectors uphold the findings in appeals by developers? It is remarkable that Mr Kendall’s 10-minute wait will be reduced by just 48 seconds, but even more extraordinary that the decision was made to proceed with the costly bridge over an extended route in the first place.

Rat-running will persist, as evidenced by the increasing traffic on White Lane in Ash Green. Once the bridge is operational, traffic from Foreman Road will spill over into Grange Road and the new Ash Park Drive estate, exacerbating congestion in a much wider area.

While hindsight is always clearer, the residents’ association advocated for a compulsory purchase order on the privately owned land adjacent to the crossing a decade ago. This would have provided a more direct and cost-effective route, much like the solution implemented 25 years ago at the North Camp crossing.

Cllr Wyeth-Price’s analysis remains invaluable, but such local expertise risks being lost by the government’s devolutionary plans, as highlighted in Bernard Quoroll’s article, the band on the Titanic is already tuning up.