Consultation on making Lucas Green Road and Ford Road, West End one-way

Overview

For a number of years large vehicles making their way to and from the businesses in Lucas Green Road have caused traffic problems along the road.

The road is generally narrow and this causes its own problems but the situation is made worse by the bends on Lucas Green Road, 100m or so south of Fenns Lane. Forward visibility is poor and two large vehicles cannot pass each other and this is where the major problems occur.

Traffic signal option

Traffic signals have previously been suggested for controlling traffic through the narrow bends but they are unsuitable for this situation and have been discounted. Not only does the narrow width of the road cause the initial problem but it makes it difficult to safely position the traffic signals where they would be clearly seen.

The locations for the signals would require them to be a considerable distance apart and this means that if a vehicle comes up to a signal that has just turned red, it would be some considerable time before it would get a green light to proceed. It would not only have to wait for the vehicles ahead of it to clear the signal controlled section but also wait for any vehicles waiting to come the other way to enter and clear that section.

These vehicles are likely to include slow moving lorries and the signals timings would need to reflect this.

Traffic signals are therefore likely to cause significant delays and stationary traffic could adversely affect air quality.

Other options

The only practical alternative to using traffic signals to control vehicles through the narrow bends would be the introduction of a one-way system operating over Ford Road and the eastern section of Lucas Green Road between Ford Road and Fenns Lane.

This could be a formal, mandatory one-way system which would completely eliminate conflicts on the narrow bends, or an informal advisory system, intended mainly for HGVs, which would minimise the existing conflicts.

The preferred direction for any one-way system would be for vehicles to enter from the A322 via Ford Road, and exit via the eastern section of Lucas Green Road and from there, onto Kerria Way, so that traffic can re-join the A322 using the Fellow Green roundabout.

Mandatory one-way system

A mandatory one-way system would eliminate conflicts on the bends because ALL traffic, including residents, would have to follow it. We recognise that this could be inconvenient for many residents as it means that all traffic would have to use Ford Road to enter the area and the eastern end of Lucas Green Road to exit.

However, a mandatory system does have the advantage of being enforceable by Surrey Police.

Advisory one-way system

As an alternative to a mandatory one-way, an advisory system with directional signs intended mainly for HGVs, could be used to encourage large vehicles to follow the route, and we would ask all of the businesses to help by instructing their drivers to follow the route and to ask any companies delivering to the area to do so as well.

Whist this would not completely eliminate conflicts on the bends, it would reduce the likelihood of them occurring, whilst allowing complete flexibility for residents who would not need to follow the one way system.

What happens next

Please let us know what you think

An advisory system would be Surrey County Council’s preferred option but before we do anything further, we would very much like to hear your views on this.  

We would, therefore, be grateful if you would take the time to complete this short survey.