Farnham victim
of pet schemes
Sir, – Once again we are faced with proposals to try to solve the problems in Farnham and while the exhibition is well
presented I cannot see that it properly addresses the
problem.
As those of us who remember the start of the A3l by-pass in 1938 will recall, it was
intended that it should relieve the traffic congestion in the town and yet 63 years later it is still unfinished, causing more traffic to flow into the town than would otherwise be the case.
Surely this must be a key to the problem and yet the best that the planners can come up with is to reduce the capacities of Downing Street and The Borough by making them single lane and thereby causing gridlock on the pretext that this will cause drivers to find
alternative routes once they realise this fact.
Which alternative routes?
Are they encouraging "rat runs" through residential areas, because unless the problems of the Firgrove Hill Bridge and the congestion at Hickleys Corner are solved then this is likely to happen?
The proposal to put an extra lane under the existing Firgrove Bridge is a poor and inadequate proposal, which will surely make the
rebuilding of the bridge virtually impossible in the future.
Farnham has suffered from too many "experts" and too many pressure groups pressing for their pet schemes over the years, which has resulted in fragmentation of their effort; the net result of which is that nothing has ever got done.
Most of the county's proposals are likely to cause more chaos and some become unnecessary if the through traffic is reduced by the lowering of congestion on the A31 by-pass, which will cause traffic to use that route.
Others such as two-way traffic in the Woolmead can be deferred pending the redevelopment of East Street, if this ever takes place, particularly as it will be a commercially
funded scheme.
It seems that there is £3
million available so let us start with the beginning of a
permanent solution, by first
re-building the Firgrove Bridge to take a four-lane dual
carriageway and then move on to build an underpass at Hickley's Corner as funds become available.
I have recently seen the
re-building of a bridge across the A27 dual carriageway at Havant which has been carried out over several months with little effect on the flow of
traffic, so these things can be done if properly organised.
If we enforce the regulations regarding the loading and unloading times for shops,
particularly in Downing Street and the Borough, then congestion will be reduced and the money which is available can be spent on the long term solution of the Firgrove Bridge and Hickley's Corner.
F O Elkins
Heathyfields Road, Farnham