PLANS to make Hickleys Corner more pedestrian-friendly, improve the efficiency of the junction and reduce traffic congestion are progressing, with a major multi-million pound scheme announced by Surrey County Council's Waverley local committee.

The scheme, expected to start in 2007/8, involves the widening of Firgrove Hill Bridge and the provision of a grade-separated junction at Hickleys Corner.

For the more immediate future, there will be a number of lower cost measures to improve efficiency and safety on the A31 Farnham bypass, known as the A31 Interim Measures. These are scheduled to be introduced after Christmas.

They include an additional westbound lane which can be taken under Firgrove Hill Bridge without it being widened and the lengthening of the left hand lane westbound towards Hickleys Corner to improve the flow of traffic.

There will also be a series of modifications at Hickleys Corner, primarily aimed at improving conditions for pedestrians and cyclists.

This will involve a reduction in the width of the carriageway which has to be crossed on the A31, widening the central reserve widths and introducing a new "green man" signal on the left turns onto the bypass from Station Hill and South Street.

A new pedestrian/cycle crossing will be introduced across Station Hill.

The measures, which have been under consideration for many years, are in response to the many problems arising at the increasingly hazardous junction.

Currently three lanes reduce to a single lane between the junction and Firgrove Bridge, requiring traffic to slow down to merge, and as a result, queues develop back through the junction itself.

At times, queuing traffic fills the dedicated left turn lane and extends back into the nearside lane of the bypass, which reduces access for traffic approaching the junction with the attention of travelling straight on.

Welcoming the measures, Marie King Hele, county councillor for Farnham Central, said: "It is good news that these measures will go ahead in the next 12 months and help to relieve some of the problems at this heavily congested and hazardous junction.

"I am particularly pleased that dangers to pedestrians are being carefully addressed. It is also very good news that the major scheme is being progressed."