SURREY county councillor David Munro has this week sought to distance himself from work carried out by Surrey Highways in installing three mini-roundabouts on Shortheath Road and Echo Barn Lane, Farnham. Following a damning road-safety audit investigation into the roundabouts, Mr Munro referred to the scheme as a "sorry saga". The safety audit, carried out by the Surrey Highways Partnership, found that each of the roundabouts needed "relocation" and better signing and resurfacing. "All the recommendations seem very sensible and I have strongly urged Surrey Highways to get them in as soon as possible," explained Mr Munro. "I don't want to point the finger of blame at anyone, but obviously the system for putting in roundabouts didn't work. I've asked for an investigation to take place to put it right in future, but this has been a long, hard slog and it will now be a lot more expensive than it should have been." He went on to say that despite the constant setbacks and problems on the roundabouts - there were two crashes in the first week and complaints of bad signs - he's confident that they can still make a real contribution to safety. He added: "Without rehashing in detail this sorry saga, why on earth couldn't the works have been done right first time? It frankly isn't good enough. Local residents and councillors will demand a much better service in future." The Audit, released this week by Surrey Highways, describes the problems with the roundabouts as being due to a lack of "deflection," meaning that drivers approaching them are at risk of failing to give way. This, according to the audit, "increases the potential for conflict," as visibility is restricted at several of the junctions. A number of recommendations on how the scheme should be improved are noted, including relocating the central discs and doming them above the surface at the Manley Bridge and Green Lane junctions, resurfacing the road and installing better markings and approach signs. Since their introduction at the beginning of October, the three mini-roundabouts have attracted criticism from members of the public who view them as dangerous. The roundabouts became so shrouded in controversy that one joker erected a sign by the junction with Manley Bridge Road reading, "Beware, stupid roundabout ahead" in December last year. Despite costing a further £2,000 - £3,000 to rectify the roundabouts, Surrey Highways has defended its work as "standard engineering practice." They claim that the scheme's designs looked good as two-dimensional drawings, but that they didn't work in reality. The Echo Barn Lane scheme was designed by Surrey County Council's consultants, Ringway, using topographic surveys of the existing layout, then overlying standard design principals to produce two-dimensional designs. A spokesman said: "The central roundabout island at the junction of Shortheath road and Green Lane is fine on paper, but is too far to the north in actual working and will need to be relocated. Similarly, some other minor adjustments to the scheme will need to be made shortly to ensure the scheme functions as it was designed." To date, the installation of the three roundabouts has cost approximately £60,000, including road surfacing and street-lighting improvements. Dr Avril Capper, a resident living close to one of the mini- roundabouts labelled the scheme "unwanted" and "dangerous," claiming that Mr Munro should have listened to people living on the road before implementing it. "Judging by what is still going on outside I'm so surprised there wasn't an accident this morning," she said. "We hear nothing but the hooting of horns and screeching of brakes every day. Moving them might make them safer but they should never have been built in the first place." She went on to voice her concern over the new mini-roundabout at the bottom of School Hill, Wrecclesham, which was put in on Sunday. "It is yet another accident waiting to happen," she continued. "I think as structures, all of these roundabouts are unsafe and completely unnecessary. They are a waste of money and all the council has done is put in a series of hazards."
