Letter: Update on Traffic Disruption Caused by Roadworks and Wall Collapse

Published on: 20 Dec, 2019
Updated on: 20 Dec, 2019

Collapsed wall on A281 Shalford Road

From Matt Furniss

SCC cabinet member for Highways and Conservative councillor for Shalford

I note there have been questions and comments about highways work in Surrey, including from The Guildford Dragon, so I have put together an update for your readers.

A281 Wall collapse: After the wall fell into the A281, Kier, the SCC Contractor, deployed traffic management to make the area safe.

Now the owner and their insurance company have given SCC permission to clear the site today (Friday). This also means the taxpayer will not take on any liability.

One metre of sandbags will be put in to stabilise the bank and netted to reduce the risk of further landslides. The rain does still involve the risk of further subsidence.

The traffic-control lights will remain until next week so the landowner’s private insurance can make an assessment for repairs to the bank and wall.

Although this is disruptive, I would like to thank drivers for their understanding on this section as we try to secure the site from further collapse.

One Tree Hill: These works are for a standard, planned gas mains replacement project, which required a road closure for this to be completed safely. The project is now nearing completion but it will not be finished by Friday (December 20).

As such, SCC agreed with SGN that they clear from the site to keep roads open for residents in the immediate run-up to, and over the Christmas period. SGN will return on January 6 and hope to complete all works by January 20.

Experience tells us communities do not want roadworks operating over the Christmas break when many people take leave and are at home enjoying quality time with families. Noise and light pollution (aside from congestion) are also considerations and we want to make sure gas supplies are available to properties during the winter period without interruption.

As far as One Tree Hill “penalty clauses” may be concerned, SCC can apply “overrun charges” if works take longer than the agreed “reasonable period”. We do so when we feel there is no valid reason for works to have taken longer. But we have not applied any overrun charges here because we feel the reasons for needing to defer completion into January are valid.

A3100 hedge-cutting: These are unauthorised works and are being investigated. No permit or permission was sought from SCC. If anyone needs to work on the highway they must contact SCC for permission.
If anyone wants to ask a highways question I am happy to help and can be contacted at matt.furniss@surreycc.gov.uk

Responses to Letter: Update on Traffic Disruption Caused by Roadworks and Wall Collapse

Joss Bigmore Reply

December 21, 2019 at 7:38 am

“Experience tells us communities do not want roadworks operating over the Christmas break.” This shows the same lack of empathy and tin ear to the actual wishes of residents that resulted in electoral humiliation for the Conservatives in May.

That being said, I’m glad to see one of the top priorities of our new MP Angela Richardson is traffic and congestion.

Joss Bigmore is the leader of the Residents for Guildford & Villages Group at GBC
David Bird Reply

December 27, 2019 at 3:25 pm

Well said Joss Bigmore. I’ve lived in Guildford for nigh on 35 years and the congestion has become almost intolerable.

A recent survey showed we are the worst-congested town in the UK,– a statistic our previous council members must take great pride in because they did little or nothing about traffic congestion for decades.

Consider the increase in traffic lights, housing numbers and the increase in employment in the town, retail parks and research park. Great stuff, Guildford but where was the resultant extra capacity for traffic?

Now we have a council which has declared support for climate change measures which is terrific, but we are all increasingly suffering from appalling levels of pollution resulting from miles and miles of daily traffic jams and queues.

This is where, to quote Greta Thunberg, we “can make a difference”.

It is a vain hope to think we can reduce the number of vehicles on roads in and around Guildford, but we can put some effort into speeding traffic in, around and through the town and really reducing carbon emissions.

Come on MP Angela Richardson.