GBUG are delighted that the council will re-consider their decision on the London Road Active Travel scheme

GBUG along with others, called in Surrey County Council’s decision not to go ahead with the London Road Active Travel scheme as we believed the decision was not based on the evidence. For example, many objections to the scheme were given due to the design of floating bus stops, however these were removed from the scheme in 2023.

We were delighted to hear that the council will re-consider their decision on 26th November 2024.

There was no reasoning to suggest how the council weighed up all of the available evidence relating to safety of the new scheme for all residents when compared to the current arrangement.

GBUG also wrote to the Surrey County Council Cabinet members with the following:

Safety

• the design for the scheme is far safer than the current road and footpath arrangement.
• the scheme will be significantly safer than the current arrangement for vulnerable residents and residents with disabilities. The no. of controlled pedestrian crossings will increase from 2 to 7, kerb radii are being tightened to slow down vehicles turning into side roads, and tactile paving will be added to all side roads.

Bus stops

• floating bus stops were removed from the scheme in 2023 yet a large amount of evidence discussed at the meeting was around floating bus stops.
• the scheme has changed so that there are shared pedestrian/cycle paths by the bus stops, which is the same as the current arrangement for the bus stop outside the shops.

Road and footpath widths

• most of the shared usage path would be 3 metres wide. The narrowest 5% of the route would be 1.8 metres – but this is still wider than the current path which we have measured in places as being 1.75m Northbound and 1.35m Southbound.
• the road under the proposed scheme would be a minimum of 6.5 metres wide at all points, which is wide enough for two HGVs to safely pass without needing to move to the sides of the road.

Independent parties

• ARUP (an engineering consultancy) provided an independent report that the scheme was safe, and an improvement on the current arrangement.
• Active Travel (the experts in these schemes) have funded the scheme and signed it off as being safe.

Council commitments

• the council also has commitments to Net Zero, The local Transport Plan and Vision Zero.

Residents’ voice

• 50% of residents voted for the scheme, and only 30% against.
• the scheme is supported by George Potter, County Councillor for Guildford East, and Matt Furness the expert member of the cabinet, and that the only cabinet member who has lived in the local area also voted in favour of the scheme.