First published: 04/11/2020
The A244 bisecting Oxshott has become a regular traffic route between the A3 and the A243/M25 to the serious detriment of the safety, health and well-being of residents of Oxshott.
- Daily vehicle numbers can be up to ca. 17,500.
- Speed data provided by Surrey Police show that speeds are excessive for a built-up area (average 36mph at the 85th percentile and up to 70mph) with a school population across three schools of over 1000 children.
- Continuous pavements through the village are lacking and the few island refuges are unsafe and frequently damaged by traffic.
- There are no safe cycle paths on the A244 (or on any other Oxshott roads).
- A recent major problem is large volumes of HGV traffic at night for which this road was never designed, creating excessive noise, pollution, vibration and damage.
A significant factor in the increased HGV use is the Low Emission Zone now in operation on the A243 starting at Malden Rushett but which excludes the A3 until New Malden, as a result of which polluting HGV traffic preferentially uses the A244, a problem exacerbated by poor signage on the A243. A map showing the Low Emission Zone is provided below.
On October 5th, 2020, FEDORA launched an online petition to try to get action by the relevant authorities. The text of the petition is:
PETITION
We the undersigned petition Surrey County Council to support the following measures to limit the impact on local residents of traffic traveling through Oxshott on the A244 and improve road safety by:
- Installing average speed control cameras in both directions at the entrance and exit to the village at appropriate places AND liaising with the Police to ensure enforcement
- Engineering a solution to the speed and conduct of traffic in the High Street, for example by incorporating a raised platform/ramp to the Pelican Crossing outside the Oxshott Village Stores/ Post Office; ghost islands and improved road markings
- Improving road and pedestrian safety to the south of the village by the creation of continuous pavement(s) into the village centre to minimise pedestrian road crossing; improvements to retained island refuges; and replacement of the island refuge adjacent to the entrance to Danes Hill School with a pedestrian crossing.
- Improved road signage to support measures taken including repeater speed limit signs.
- We also request the Local Committee to ask Surrey to work with the other relevant authorities to implement measures to reduce the impact on local residents of excessive volumes of HGV traffic passing through Oxshott on the A244. Specifically, we request a weight limit of 7.5T to apply between the hours of 8pm and 6am.
The petition closed on 2nd November and received over 1000 signatures – thank you to all who supported it. As a result of the number of signatures, the petition will be presented to the Elmbridge Local Committee on 16th November at 4.00 pm. About a week before this date the agenda for the meeting will be available online and there will also be a link to the webcast of the meeting. Both of these will be available via this link.
This is just the beginning of the process. We fully expect that getting significant action will take time; but we have made a good start. For further information on this topic, please email us using this link..
Low-Emission Zone near Oxshott. Note that the A3 is excluded from the LEZ until New Malden.
