Consultation launched on final sections of ‘Masterplan’ Alternative Route for traffic through High Wycombe
David Johncock and Mark Shaw above the work in Oxford Road, which is nearing completion.
On Friday 20th January 2017 Buckinghamshire Country Council launched a consultation on the plans for the final sections of the new ‘Masterplan’ Alternative Route for traffic through High Wycombe town centre.
The consultation can be viewed online at www.buckscc.gov.uk/hwmasterplan.
The Alternative Route for traffic will link Oxford Road with the Abbey Way gyratory. Construction began in Westbourne Street in May 2015. Phase 2, currently being built along Desborough Road, is expected to be finished in August 2017.
Phases 3 and 4, the final parts of the project, will complete the scheme by creating a new link road through the town’s former gas works site with further work in Queen Alexandra Road. Work is scheduled to start in summer 2017 and will cost around £3 million.
The scheme, one of seven making up the High Wycombe Masterplan, uses design features to encourage slower, smoother traffic speeds to reduce stop-start delays and control emissions. It will improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists, and enable more traffic to use the route.
The total cost of the Masterplan is £14.53m, of which £8.5m comes from Local Growth Funding through Buckinghamshire and Thames Valley Local Enterprise Partnership (BTVLEP), £5.3m from Wycombe District Council and just over half a million pounds from Buckinghamshire County Council.
Mark Shaw, County Council Transport Cabinet Member at Buckinghamshire County Council said the month-long consultation was a critical stage to get feedback from residents and businesses.
‘Our concern is about the safety and security of people who use the roads through High Wycombe’s busy town centre,‘ said Mark. ‘We’re aiming to give people a choice in their route across town, and we want to make sure we get this right.‘
Wycombe District Council’s Cabinet Member for Planning and Sustainability David Johncock added: ‘We’re investing in the alternative route to improve High Wycombe and make it a more attractive, people-friendly town to live and work in. Once all the pieces are in place we’ll have a new route for traffic crossing from one side of town to the other, paving the way for a better connected, more pedestrian-friendly town centre.‘
Once built, the Alternative Route will take pressure off the town’s Abbey Way flyover, recent maintenance on which has extended its life for 15 years.
