How will you prevent Woking town centre and surrounding roads from becoming gridlocked during longer term highways works?
All major infrastructure projects will cause some disruption and for longer periods of time. During the main highways works alternative routes will be well signed and prior warning will be provided to help users plan their journeys in advance of the diversions start date.
The Victoria Arch widening scheme project team is developing a road diversions mitigation strategy which will outline the most suitable diversions and the mitigation measures to lessen the impact of the road closures. The mitigation measures will aim to improve safety and traffic capacity on the diversion routes.
In addition, the team is working with other major development teams in the town centre, such the Victoria Square, Thameswey and EcoWorld developments, to coordinate highways works to further minimise disruption.
It is important to note that whilst every effort will be made to coordinate workplans with other organisations, the road network is always subject to unplanned emergency utilities works, which can disrupt planned diversion routes and traffic.
Questions submitted by members of the public
A significant number of questions were submitted by residents in advance of the public meeting, to be held on Tuesday 22 February 2022. The above question and answer aims to provide responses to the main points and topics raised by local residents. Any outstanding or additional questions received will be added in the future.
- What will prevent gridlock as this is a main arterial road into Woking town centre?
- How will works be planned to keep disruption to a minimal as locals have already experienced years of roadworks, delays etc. in that area?
- It is likely that the A320 through Woking will be closed for many months during the Victoria Arch Bridge works. The closure of the A320 southbound due to the Hilton Hotel falling cladding incident gives an indication of what may be expected during the bridge works. The current closure has impacted the local area. For example, Wych Hill Lane has become heavily used and as a result it has become difficult for residents to exit their driveways onto Wych Hill Lane. The air quality has also suffered. Does the council have detailed diversion and traffic management plans and do these include traffic calming measures to control the current excessive vehicle speeds?
- How will traffic diversions operate, and how will they vary over the duration of the project.
- How many closures of Victoria Way will be required during the construction period? Will these be limited to weekends?
- Will pedestrian and cycle access be maintained at all times?