HIGHWAYS officers have turned down a request for a roundabout at the junction of West Street and Crondall Lane – because it would “make traffic problems worse”.

Farnham Residents town councillor George Hesse submitted a petition signed by 76 people to Surrey County Council but was told changing the junction would increase “queuing and delay”.

The petitioners said they wanted the “highways department to urgently reconsider its position concerning a new mini-roundabout at the West Street and Crondall Lane junction, in light of the 120 new houses at Hopfields which will soon be under construction, which will lead to greater congestion and danger at this junction”.

But responding to the petition at the Waverley Local Committee on Friday, December 14, the county council’s highways team said in a statement: “Changing the existing priority junction to a mini-roundabout would significantly increase queuing and delay on West Street, and deliver only a minor improvement to traffic flow on Crondall Lane.

“The traffic modelling demonstrates that a mini-roundabout would reduce overall junction performance in the peak periods, compared to the existing situation. It is therefore not recommended to install a mini-roundabout at this junction.”

Mr Hesse said the petitioners did not agree with officers’ conclusions and called for a meeting between the highways team, residents and county councillor Andy MacLeod.

Mr MacLeod said: “We have to accept the views of the professionals and that a roundabout would not help.”

Highways officers and councillors will meet residents in February.

This is the second time residents have pushed for something to be done at the junction. In April, Stewart Edge, of the North West Farnham Residents Association said improvements could have been paid for by the £380,000 infrastructure contributions lost when council officers failed to negotiate the maximum available Section 106 funding to soften the impact of Taylor Wimpey’s 120-home development in Beavers Road.

Waverley Borough Council granted full planning permission for the housebuilder’s scheme on April 9, 2018 - but not before councillors and residents slammed Surrey County Council for failing to identify an appropriate project for Taylor Wimpey’s funds, as required by the new Community Infrastructure Levy.

This meant the amount of money available for infrastructure improvements plummeted from an estimated £914,922 to just £534,152.