Bridge at Thatcham is one too far

Motorists need to 'manage their journeys' until solution is found

FRUSTRATED drivers at Thatcham’s level crossing will have to put up with the congestion for the forseeable future.

The level crossing is a notorious congestion hotspot in the town, with people using it to avoid traffic in the centre of an increasingly busy Newbury when travelling from Thatcham to Basingstoke.

The debate as to whether to build a bridge at the site has been raging since the 1970s with various schemes considered and dismissed over the years.

And with Newbury feeling the pinch of more housing and road upgrades, residents have questioned whether a bridge will ever be built.

Responding to questions regarding any possibility of a bridge for Thatcham, a spokeswoman for Network Rail, Victoria Bradley, said this week that ‘no concrete’ opportunities for closing the level crossing had been presented so far.

She said it was impossible to say how much a bridge, which would be around 19ft high at Thatcham, would cost as the company had never reached the stage of carrying out a detailed site analysis, needed to see if a bridge was viable, owing to Thatcham being a complex site.

She added that the company made safety improvements where it was not viable to close a crossing, pointing to upgrades made at Thatcham in 2006.

Stopping trains currently activate the level crossing barriers when they are four minutes from the station, with fast and freight trains two-and-a-half minutes and three-minutes 20 seconds respectively.

The Conservative administration at West Berkshire Council also views Thatcham as a bridge too far.

Deputy leader of West Berkshire Council and Thatcham town councillor, Roger Croft (Con, Thatcham South and Crookham), said: “We don’t see any likelihood of a bridge or tunnel ever being built – it would be too intrusive and cost way too much.”

He said that while he would ‘love to find a solution’ he did not think it would be at the level crossing, owing to the geographical constraints of the railway, the River Kennet and the canal.

Mr Croft said: “The only way that that amount of money will be spent is if Crookham Hill became a major thoroughfare for all vehicles, including heavy lorries.

“The idea of having heavy lorries running down Pipers Way and Station Road and up or down Crookham Hill is not one we believe the residents of Thatcham will tolerate.

“So we will work to make improvements as we did with the right turn lane into the Post Office Industrial Estate.”

He added that further improvements to ease congestion, including reducing the amount of time cars spend queuing at the crossing, could be made by working with Network Rail.

Thatcham town councillor Jeff Brooks (Lib Dem, Thatcham West), said he was concerned that building a bridge at Thatcham would open up the green fields of Crookham to
development and suggested that Network Rail and the district
council consider a bridge at Colthrop instead.

Mr Brooks, who said he had ‘wrestled with the issue for many years’, said: “You could build something there much more like Ufton Nervet and channel some of the traffic heading south along the A4 rather than it coming into Thatcham.

“If they can build a bridge at Ufton Nervet and replace the one at Aldermaston, why not consider one at Colthrop?”

Mr Brooks said that it would be a case of motorists ‘managing their journeys’ until any solution was found.

He said: “Unless there’s a will from West Berkshire Council to put in a bid to the Government this ain’t going anywhere.”