Racecourse Bridge over Railway Options

[BB01635]

I see David Wilson Homes want to delay the completion of the new bridge over the railway line until they have completed 421 homes now instead of the originally agreed 250, the notification received from our local councillor states "This won't make any difference to the traffic from the western area of the development accessing the site via Stroud Green" who do they think they're kidding?

[Shabba]

"This won't make any difference to the traffic from the western area of the development accessing the site via Stroud Green" who do they think they're kidding?

Even when the bridge opens, the houses in the west bit will STILL only use Stroud Green (the bollard stops them from using the bridge, like the one in Lamtarra Way).

So yes, the bridge won't make any difference, the traffic on Racecourse Road will still be a nightmare either way.

[BB01635]

So where are these bollards going, the letter I have seen says that they will be going along Racecourse Road with access for Racecourse Operations and the bus service? Has anyone seen a map?

Then is says that residents from the Western Area (421) will access their homes from Stroud Green, surely if Racecourse Road is bollarded they won't be able to get through from Stroud Green!

[Blake]

Bollards....the solution:

One petrol powered angle-grinder, remove bollards: traffic now moves.

A win all round!

[Exhausted]

So where are these bollards going, the letter I have seen says that they will be going along Racecourse Road with access for Racecourse Operations and the bus service? Has anyone seen a map? Then is says that residents from the Western Area (421) will access their homes from Stroud Green, surely if Racecourse Road is bollarded they won't be able to get through from Stroud Green!

Haven't heard about bollards on the racecourse access roads, neither have I seen a letter. Can someone clarify with a link perhaps.

[Exhausted]

So where are these bollards going, the letter I have seen says that they will be going along Racecourse Road with access for Racecourse Operations and the bus service? Has anyone seen a map? Then is says that residents from the Western Area (421) will access their homes from Stroud Green, surely if Racecourse Road is bollarded they won't be able to get through from Stroud Green!

Is there some confusion with the rail bridge to Hambridge Rd which is gated and only open on race days as it is a private access.

[Andy Capp]

"David Wilson Homes (DWH) have submitted an application to change the planning condition which says no more than 250 dwellings shall be completed prior to the opening of the bridge over the railway joining the Hambridge Road/Hambridge Lane junction to the racecourse.

This new road bridge to the north of the site is crucial to mitigating the traffic that the racecourse development will generate, and the reason that the condition was put in place four years ago was to ensure that the bridge was actually built.

The work on the bridge is now well under way, though there have been a number of delays which DWH say are outside their control – not least the Government’s plans to electrify the Paddington line at least as far as Newbury, which has meant major infrastructure improvements along the length of the line and necessitated changes to the bridge plans originally approved in 2010.

As a result, the work has had to be split into two stages – the first was the new roundabout on Hambridge Road, which was finished nearly 2 years ago (March 2013), and the second was the building of the bridge itself which started about six months ago and is due to finish next summer.

Negotiations with WBC’s Highways Department have taken more time than was anticipated, too. But the result is that DWH has put in place a multi-million pound bond in favour of WBC so that if anything goes wrong then WBC can call on the bond to complete the construction of the bridge.

DWH want to change the planning condition from 250 dwellings to 421 dwellings – the total number of houses due to be built in the western part of the development. Effectively, this would mean that they could complete the Western area development before the bridge is open. Without this change, DWH say that they will have to do shut down the site in the western area once 250 dwellings have been completed, and then restart it again when the bridge is open. They say that this will cause a great deal of disruption and will prolong the disturbance to local residents.

This won't make any difference to the traffic from the western area of the development accessing the site via Stroud Green – this was always part of the plan. The main reason for imposing the condition in the first place was to ensure that the bridge got built."

[spartacus]

Haven't heard about bollards on the racecourse access roads, neither have I seen a letter. Can someone clarify with a link perhaps.

All planning applications and variations go on this webpage
Planning application searchpage
Type in 'racecourse' and you'll see there are pages and pages on this location
The latest change is to vary Condition 32
link to application
From there click on the 'documents' page and then the 'view associated documents' link and it'll bring up this particular change.
I think the only bollard in question currently is the one linking the internal road which feeds directly onto Boundary Road. Even with the small number of occupied properties though it's already becoming a bit of a pain driving to the golf course and Nuffields gym as residents are parking on the main drag just past the entrance - especially in the evening. And 400+ occupied properties could mean 800+ cars all trying to swarm out of the place in the morning and jamming up Boundary Road even more.

Time for residents of Boundary Road to find somewhere else to park as their on-street parking is causing a major hold-up.

[Andy Capp]

I'm sure West Berkshire Council planning department have ensured we have little to worry about.

[BB01635]

If you read the Application letter found here you'll see that it states that there will be bollards in Racecourse Road, of course that might just mean that Daniel Pavely, the Project Manager for DWH doesn't know the names of the roads surrounding the project he is managing!

http://planning.westberks.gov.uk/rpp/index...14/03109/OUTMAJ

[Mr Brown]

I can't see the issue here. This is a massive project, interconnected with other massive interconnected projects. The request is simply a project management programme change, nothing more, nothing less. I really can't see what the fuss is about.

[On the edge]

Well Mr B. I suspect you've noticed that the locals don't like change. You should have heard the fuss when the drains were put in!

[Andy Capp]

Provided the bond is sound and cannot be reneged upon and that the developer doesn't unduly slow down the construction of the bridge, then all seems well to me.

[Cognosco]

Provided the bond is sound and cannot be reneged upon and that the developer doesn't unduly slow down the construction of the bridge, then all seems well to me.

Apart from the council giving in to a Developer again after making a decision to ensure that another part of Newbury was not gridlocked and the bridge was built in a timely fashion!

Developers rule as we well know!

[blackdog]

Apart from the council giving in to a Developer again after making a decision to ensure that another part of Newbury was not gridlocked and the bridge was built in a timely fashion!

Developers rule as we well know!

Can't see how it makes any difference to the gridlock - the bridge only gives access to the east of the site - which they won't be building on before the bridge is built.

Of course once a few hundred households are trying to get in and out of that part of the site the regular gridlock in Hambridge Road will be a daily event for hours morning and evening.

The real planning disaster was allowing the developers to separate the two halves of the site and prevent the new road from being used by through traffic.

[spartacus]

The real planning disaster was allowing the developers to separate the two halves of the site and prevent the new road from being used by through traffic.

Aah... it becomes clear now.... the bollard is going to be on the main route through the development and is going keep the East and the West side apart with only buses being able to go through from one end to the other.

We'll see how long that lasts. A bag of sand poured down the sleeve of a rising bollard can mess the mechanics up easily and cheaply and provide a relief for resident commuters who may quickly get fed up with the delays on the Boundary Road gridlock

[spartacus]

Duplicate

[Andy Capp]

Aah... it becomes clear now.... the bollard is going to be on the main route through the development and is going keep the East and the West side apart with only buses being able to go through from one end to the other.

We'll see how long that lasts. A bag of sand poured down the sleeve of a rising bollard can mess the mechanics up easily and cheaply and provide a relief for resident commuters who may quickly get fed up with the delays on the Boundary Road gridlock

Not to mention the impaled car stories we can all enjoy reading about again!

[Cognosco]

So if I have followed this correctly.....does that mean that those living on the East of the new development will have to travel over the bridge and go along Hambridge Road and then north up Boundary Road or onto the Sainsbury roundabout to go west and vice versa?