SURREY County Council has all-but ruled out the potential for a mini-roundabout at the junction of Union Road, Long Bridge and Downing Street in Farnham, as promoted by MP Jeremy Hunt as part of his pedestrianisation proposals for the town centre.

The county council has published the initial findings of its feasibility study into Mr Hunt’s proposals, commissioned after the MP for South West Surrey secured a majority ‘yes’ vote narrowly in favour of the principal of introducing shared space and a possible part-time pedestrianisation of Farnham town centre in June 2014.

Mr Hunt’s proposals included two mini-roundabouts at the access to Wagon Yard and Central car park in order to reverse the one-way system in part of Downing Street and allow south Farnham traffic to avoid The Borough and South Street.

Surrey’s study found it would be possible to provide either a roundabout with two stand-alone puffin crossings or a fully signalised traffic junction with Union Road and Long Bridge.

However, it concluded these options would be prohibitively expensive and would not offer value for taxpayer’s money, as well as giving little benefit to congestion and pollution - even increasing congestion and pollution on the A287 in Long Bridge.

The study did however concede that its ‘microsimulation modelling’ of the new junctions did not take into consideration the impact of Mr Hunt’s wider part-time pedestrianisation proposals in The Borough, and recommended the study be repeated when designs have been drawn up for all other Farnham town centre schemes.

Surrey’s report stated: “This junction alteration should not be progressed in isolation to the rest of the potential town centre alterations. It is therefore suggested that these option tests are revisited when all town centre plans are finalised.”