Two-thirds of London Road Cycle Scheme Deferred or Cancelled

Published on: 24 Feb, 2024
Updated on: 24 Feb, 2024

Boxgrove Road Roundabout – improvements to proceed with a design to prioritise pedestrians and cyclists. Image Apple maps

By Martin Giles

The controversial scheme to improve cycle and pedestrian facilities along the A3100 London Road between Burpham and the town centre will be scaled back if recommendations are approved by county councillors on February 27.

The recommendations are:

• defer a decision on Section 1 – New Inn Lane to Boxgrove Roundabout;
• proceed with the construction of Section 2 – Boxgrove Roundabout;
• not to proceed with Section 3 – Boxgrove Roundabout to York Road.

Map showing the sections of the London Road scheme. Apple maps

In a report containing the recommendations it is stated: “When the engagement exercise for this scheme was launched, there was a commitment to only proceed where there is not substantial opposition to the scheme.” This echoes a statement made by SCC leader Tim Oliver at a packed public meeting of concerned residents in January 2023. He said then that it would be “madness” to proceed in the face of overwhelming objections.

Tim Oliver – Leader of Surrey County Council

Referring to recent consultations, Cllr Oliver (Con, Weybridge) said: “Residents and people who travel through the area were recently invited to give their views on a proposed new cycling and walking route on the A3100 in Burpham. Surrey County Council has since comprehensively analysed all feedback from this engagement exercise.

“After listening extensively to all views from the local community, including much support for various elements of the scheme but also substantial and legitimate concerns, a recommendation has been put forward to proceed with an adapted scheme focusing on improvements to and around the Boxgrove Roundabout.

“New safer crossing points are also proposed at the junction of Nightingale Road and London Road and between Winterhill Way and London Road in Burpham. It is recommended that further design work is undertaken on section one of the scheme, with a decision to be taken at a later date, but that section three is not taken forward.

“A decision will be made on how to proceed with this recommendation on 27 February 2024. Following this, we will provide a full update to our residents on our dedicated webpage at: https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/activetravelburpham”

Regarding the “alternative” survey conducted independently by concerned residents, Cllr Oliver added: “All feedback received during the engagement period has been reviewed by Surrey County Council. The ‘London Road Active Travel Survey’, submitted by a group of residents, came with a disclaimer indicating that the data had not been independently verified.”

Supporters of the independent survey say that their verification based on the provision of email addresses and postcodes was as good as SCC’s but others disagree and say it was open false responses.

In an update, the chair of the London Road Action Group formed in the wake of the January 2023 public meeting wrote: “References are made to both a Kidical survey and the Alternative Survey, with the quantitative results quoted, but seemingly not used to influence the recommendations, which are based solely on the SCC Commonplace survey.

“The reason appears to be: ‘The survey was submitted to Surrey County Council with a disclaimer indicating that the data had not be (sic) independently verified’, unlike the SCC survey: which, following validation of the dataset which included the removal of duplicate entries, resulted in a total of 995 responses being provided to the online survey.”

See: Dragon Interview – Authors of the ‘Alternative’ London Road Survey

Cllr George Potter

Cllr George Potter (Lib Dem, Guildford East) said on his Facebook page:  “These recommendations are almost certain to be rubber-stamped on Tuesday.”

He continued: “Personally I am disappointed that Section 3 looks likely to be cancelled, as they do need to do something along that section of London Road and coming up with a better design would have made more sense to me than just pulling the plug.

“I am also very worried that Section 1 could also end up being kicked into the long grass given that it includes so many desperately needed improvements to pedestrian safety in Burpham before you even get on to the benefits to cyclists. That being said, if the design and safety review is a genuine review, rather than just a way to delay the scheme indefinitely, then it’s impossible to argue with double checking that the design is both appropriate and safe.”

See the full SCC report here: https://mycouncil.surreycc.gov.uk/…/Public%20reports…

Only ten days ago The Guildford Society wrote to Cllr Matt Furniss (Con, Shalford), Cabinet member for Transport, supporting the London Road scheme. Society chair Alistair Smith wrote: “Although the London Road Scheme has constraints due to using existing roads, the Society supports the scheme as part of a plan to promote active travel.

“Guildford needs to adopt Active Travel Schemes as part of a programme to reduce vehicular traffic in the Town, promote health and address high levels of pollution. If this opportunity is missed it could be many years before another scheme obtains funding.

“It should be noted that there is now local discussion on creating a similar scheme for Epsom Road. See https://guildford-dragon.com/letter-what-are-your-views-on-epsom-road-safety/“

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