‘Vital’ repair work to cause disruption
Cookham: Planned road closure for scheduled work on railway station crossing branded ‘unacceptable’
A planned road closure in Cookham that begins on Friday has been branded ‘unacceptable’ by one of the ward councillors there.
The level crossing at Cookham railway station is scheduled for refurbishment between October 21 to 31. Network Rail’s ‘vital upgrade’ is to renew sections of the track ‘that has reached the end of its life.’
Great Western Railway says no trains will be running from Saturday 22 to Sunday 30 and there will be replacement buses.
For Cookham, the stop will be on Maidenhead Road
(B4447) near the roundabout to take into the account the closure of the level crossing.
“Buses will run at different times to the usual train times. Journey planners have been
updated to reflect this,” a spokesperson said.
The current planned road closures are overnight from 8pm to 8am each day which, Cllr Gerry Clark (Con, Bisham and Cookham) says will ‘severely impact’ residents.
“I believe the current plan is unacceptable,” said Cllr Clark.
“I’m particularly worried about commuters in the morning not being able to access the car park, I’m worried about the impact of local businesses.”
Cllr Clark had asked Network Rail's contractors to look at the timetable again, to see whether or not there could be a tighter schedule of works, or shorter hours of closure.
There are other problems.
“It is not clear whether the footpath will remain open all or some of the time during the works for pedestrian and emergency service access,” said Cllr Clark.
“I am concerned about noise nuisance and parking issues, and the safety of visually impaired residents who rely on the recently improved tactile surfaces at the level crossing to be able to cross the road safely.
“I have spoken to nearby residents and businesses, and they have not received any communication from Network Rail about the work due to commence on October 21.
“I have written to express my concerns to Network Rail and as yet [October 18], have received no reply. We all
realise that repairs and upgrades to the railway network are necessary, but residents and businesses should be kept informed of proposals.”
A Network Rail spokesperson said: “During this work, we’ll be using heavy engineering trains that will be positioned on the level crossing at times, which requires us to close the road between 8pm and 8am each night to ensure the safety of the public and our teams.
“We know that closing a road completely is never ideal and have worked with the local
council to ensure that we can avoid closing the road during the day.
“If our teams are in a position to safely open the road earlier than 8am on some mornings, they will work hard to make sure this can be done.
“Letters outlining our work and detailing the road closure and diversionary route were sent to residents last week, however some residents may have received their copy later than expected owing to delays resulting from the national Royal Mail strike. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.”