Surrey County Council will be closing a section of Lockfield Drive for 13 weeks from 21st September.

Yesterday, the County Council announced that Lockfield Drive, between Bampton Way and Robin Hood Roundabout, will be closed to repair a pedestrian bridge. This is a lengthy closure of a major road with little notice, so I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t believe me, please read the details here.

Following hearing about the road closure, my Lib Dem colleagues and I have written to the Cabinet Member for Transport at County Hall asking why the road needs to be closed for 13 weeks and why the announcement was made less than a week before the closure is to start.

We have also expressed serious concerns about the official diversion route, which is north of Goldsworth Park and Horsell, via Chobham Road, Kettlewell Hill and Littlewick Road.  This is a huge diversion which will add a significant amount of time to motorists’ journeys.  There are fears that the road closure of Lockfield Drive will result in the quiet roads of Goldsworth Park and St John’s being used as unofficial diversion routes.

I am appalled that the County Council wants to close a section of Lockfield Drive for 13 weeks.  Woking’s highway network won’t be able to cope without Lockfield Drive for that length of time, the road will effectively be closed until Christmas.  We need to know what alternatives to this lengthy closure have been considered.

This closure will add a significant diversion to motorists’ journeys, adding to the lengthy roadworks in Woking town centre.  With all the extra traffic that will inevitably go through Goldsworth Park and St John’s, I really worry about road safety.  Those residential roads cannot be used as an alternative to an A road.