Sandhill Road will be closed from Thursday 10th August to Wednesday 6th September. Residents are advised that the best route to Padbury / Buckingham will be either via Winslow and the A413 or via Verney Junction to Addington and A413. This route will continue to be advisable during the closure of the Padbury to Herds Hill (Kingsbridge Junction) 22nd September to 13th October. More details are on the EWR map on page 17 of the below EWR2 Summer newsletter but it is difficult to read! There will also be other local road closures, see page 16, up until December 2023.
There appears to be some debate and misunderstanding about the work involved in returning Sandhill Rd to a usable through route. Under the Transport and Works Act (TWA) East West Rail is only required to return the road to the standard it inherited before the commencement of work on the railway. There is some debate in the community about whether or not the passing places should or could be retained. The problem is that the passing places were built by EWR to a lesser standard than the main highway and are likely to rapidly fall into disrepair, as there is no correct drainage or substructure. Buckingham Council’s dilemma is that improving these to a satisfactory set standard would cost many thousands of pounds which is not recoverable from East West Rail.
In the near future, a full safety audit will be undertaken by Buckinghamshire Council, including the Sandhill Road bridge. Upon the satisfactory completion of this audit, the road will be returned to Buckinghamshire Council for ongoing maintenance and reopened for traffic.
Peter Wright
Chair, East Claydon Parish Council