Ash Road Bridge approved: Guildford Borough Council (GBC) planning committee has this evening approved the project to construct a new road bridge over the railway line south of Ash Station. In the crucial vote, the over welcoming majority supported the application with 14 to 1 in favour of the bridge.
Nigel Manning, Chairman of Ash Parish Council says:
“I am delighted that after so many years of residents requesting a road bridge over the Ash Railway Station level crossing and local councillors actively pursuing this, the dream is now much nearer to becoming a reality. Ash, has for many, many years been subject to substantial housing development without the proper infrastructure to support it.
The level crossing gate is down for nearly 30 minutes in each hour, which Network Rail has said is due to increase to over 35 minutes per hour in the next 2 years. This bridge should substantially reduce the misery of congestion and pollution along the main A323 arterial route through Ash.”
The next step for this project, is for Guildford Borough Council to approve the funding. Subject to this, the anticipated completion date for the much needed road bridge is 2023.
Ash Road Bridge approved by a ‘large majority’
Following this committee stage, the project will require executive approval for the project to be funded and work to commence.
In the project description, GBC describes the project benefits will:
- “Improve safety for drivers, pedestrians and cyclists by removing the hazard posed by the present level crossing”
- “Remove delays for the local community by easing traffic congestion”
- “Help reduce traffic cutting through inappropriate residential and rural roads to avoid the level crossing”
- “Alleviate increased traffic from current housing developments in Ash and Tongham”
The Council Agenda and presentations are available online for the public to view.Ash Road Bridge approved by a ‘large majority’
Image Credits:
- Ash-Level-Crossing: Hillbers News
