Last weekend, 1-2 September,
Highways England (HE) closed a section of the A404 at Marlow to remove the
Volvo footbridge for restoration works. Given the location of the closure, and
its proximity to the Grade 1 listed Marlow Bridge, Transport for
Buckinghamshire worked with HE and their contractor, Kier, to agree how the
bridge would be protected from misuse by vehicles exceeding 3T. The agreement
was for Kier to provide traffic management marshals to man both sides of the
bridge and deter overweight vehicles.
The past weekend’s activity,
backed up with photographs from the public and personal statements from local
councillors, has shown that the agreed measures were not fully implemented. The
bridge was open for all to use – including drivers who chose to ignore the
official diversion and clear weight restriction signage on the approach to the
bridge.
Highways England issued this
brief statement to TfB on Tuesday this week: “We are aware of reports that that the traffic marshals may not have been
in place at all times: we are speaking with the teams working over the weekend
to establish the facts.”
TfB understands that HE’s
investigation is ongoing, and as such is simply prioritising plans to ensure
the same will not happen again when the Volvo footbridge is reinstated under
another weekend closure of the A404 in October. TfB is acutely aware of the
impact on the town of the enforced closure of the bridge following the Girteka
incident in November 2016 and has no intention of allowing a repeat of that
incident.
Mark Shaw, Deputy Leader and
Cabinet Member for Transportation, commented “The abuse of the bridge last
weekend is extremely troubling, and frustrating because we thought it would be
protected, as firmly agreed in the weeks before the closure. I urge Highways
England to act quickly on their investigation now, because we – and the
residents of Marlow – have been waiting since the weekend to understand why
this happened.
In the meantime we are all focused on how to best protect the
bridge in October, a task which I would now rather was handled by Transport for
Buckinghamshire. Whether that means marshalling the bridge ourselves, or
closing it for the weekend – a decision we would not take lightly – remains to
be seen. I’m appalled by what happened last weekend and want to assure Marlow
residents and businesses that the last thing we want is a repeat of what
happened in 2016.”
Further closures
Residents may also be aware
that the A404, Bisham to junction 8/9, is shortly to be closed overnight for
lining works (Tuesday 18th and 19th September). It is TfB’s intention to
close the bridge to all traffic whilst this A404 closure is in place. As
the works are scheduled for overnight only, the impact on the town will be
minimal.
