Are you prepared for Sunday the 14th?

An article by walton-site-admin    Comments Off

We may all be true Olympic supporters but……have Surrey County Council really thought through what the road closures mean to people who, want to get to work; need to get to a train, plane or bus?

Hopefully the emergency services are fully conversant with these road closures

Since our last update, we attended the drop-in session at Walton Day Centre yesterday afternoon and discovered that the only crossing point in Walton – i.e. where cars and vans will be able to cross the Cycle Route while it is closed on Sunday 14th August between 6 am and 12.15 pm – will be at the Walton Bridge / New Zealand Avenue traffic lights. This crossing point will stay open until 8.45 am that morning and is estimated to re-open at 10.15am.

What this means is that people who live between the Cycle Route and the River, – so on Manor Road, Bridge Street, Annett Road, Dudley Road, Thamesmead, Russell Road, Sunbury Lane, Cambridge Road, Waterside Drive, Sunnyside and all those roads leading off these streets, – will be unable to travel by car to anywhere outside their home area between 6 am and 12.15pm that day. So, if you live on one of these roads, and need to get to work that morning for example, you will either have to leave very early, or make arrangements to park your car somewhere safe that you will be able to get out from. If you are coming back from holiday or a business trip, for example, that morning, you might as well just relax by the river until after everything is open again in the afternoon. For those interested, we understand there will only be 9 crossing points in all of the Surrey section of the route, and the nearest other crossing points are at Monument Hill, Weybridge and Embercourt Road, Thames Ditton.

We asked when all this would be made public knowledge and were told “nearer the race day” – and nothing more. We do not consider this is adequate notice for local people who generally seem willing to put up with some disruption to their lives for the sake of these prestigious events coming through Walton, but equally expect that the organisers will live up to the promises made about sharing information, for example the quote from Denise Saliagopoulos of Surrey County Council saying ” Our aim is to ensure residents and businesses have all the information they need in plenty of time to prepare for the London-Surrey Cycle Classic. ” We have made our views known to the organisers but clearly the only way local people will find out in adequate time is if we spread the word locally ourselves.

Chris Sadler