Agenda item

The Committee is asked to consider making a traffic regulation order for the closure of East Flexford Lane central reservation gap.

The Local Committee (Guildford) agreed by 15 votes to 3 (with 1 abstention) to:

(i)     Having reviewed the objections to the formally advertised closure of the A31 central reservation gap at East Flexford Lane at Annex 1 agree that the traffic order be made and the gap permanently closed to all vehicular traffic. 

The Committee agreed to the gap closure in the interests of road safety.

Members requested that an update be provided at the December meeting of the signage improvements that had been made.

This item was introduced by John Hilder, the Area Highways Manager (SW) and Duncan Knox, Road Safety Team Leader.  It was noted that this was essentially the same report that had been brought forward in March which had been deferred to a later meeting following advice of the Surrey County Council legal team.

It was noted that this issue had been discussed at length at the Road Safety Group meeting for Guildford which included representatives from the County Road Safety Team, Surrey Highways and Surrey Police when accident data was looked at over the past three years.

For the period June 2012 to September 2015 there were 15 accidents.  Four of these were considered to be caused by drivers trying to use the gap; two attempting to turn right from the eastbound carriageway and two attempting to turn from the westbound carriageway.  Police considered the main theme to be that drivers were lost or were looking for somewhere to turn around. None were local people.  It was noted that there had been no accidents in the past year.

A number of existing rights of way exist which pre-dated the development of the road into a high speed dual carriageway.  There was no record of collisions involving pedestrians.  It was explained that increasing the signage and clearing of vegetation around the gap might well increase usage and consequently increase the potential for more accidents. It was noted that there were currently broken signs and vegetation along the road.  Planned cutting back was currently undertaken twice a year and the next cut would be in October and the signage would be reinstated at the same time.

The report explored alternatives to full closure of the gap, but these were all discounted due to the overriding safety concerns.  In particular the report concluded that installing a gate in the gap to allow access for emergency services only was likely to present new hazards for road users which outweigh the additional journey time of 3.5 minutes anticipated by Surrey Fire & Rescue in the event of an emergency in Flexford Lane East.

It was suggested that there was a conflict between local traffic and through traffic.  Vehicles moving from the nearside lane to the offside lane and then slowing down was not expected by other drivers who did not live in the area.

It was suggested that four accidents in the last four years was not a high figure given the volume of traffic using the road. However the figure was high for the limited number of vehicles trying to use the gap.

The report concluded that there were no alternatives, affordable or otherwise, that would reduce accidents to the extent that closure would and that the gap should be closed as originally recommended by the Road Safety Working Group for Guildford. While this would undoubtedly inconvenience residents this must be balanced against the record of accidents and injuries associated with use of the gap. The fact that it would remain on SatNav systems for some years to come was a concern, but this would be unavoidable and could be mitigated by the inclusion of ‘gap closed’ signs installed on both A31 approaches. The Area Team had already identified shortcomings in the signing for side roads and accesses along the length of the Hog’s Back and are in the process of carrying out a review, with additional signs funded from the ad-hoc signs & lines budget.

The Local Committee (Guildford) agreed by 15 votes to 3 (with 1 abstention) to:

(i)     Having reviewed the objections to the formally advertised closure of the A31 central reservation gap at East Flexford Lane at Annex 1 agree that the traffic order be made and the gap permanently closed to all vehicular traffic. 

The Committee agreed to the gap closure in the interests of road safety.

Members requested that an update be provided at the December meeting of the signage improvements that had been made.