Headley villagers fears over A339 lane closure

Traffic, noise and disturbance will result from bridge strengthening work

VILLAGERS in Headley living in the area of a scheduled lane closure of the A339 have raised concerns about increased traffic, noise and disturbance that could be caused by the work, which will last for up to a year from May.

The work being carried out by Hampshire County Council and costing £500,000, is to widen and strengthen Knights Bridge, which carries the A339 over the River Enborne, about a mile north west of Headley, on the Berkshire/Hampshire border.

As a result, the A339 in Headley will be reduced to a single lane, controlled by traffic lights, over a 24-hour period, seven days a week, with a 30mph speed restriction.

Wendy Karnehm, aged 66, of Knightsbridge Drive, who has lived in Headley for the past 24 years, said that she and her 70-year-old husband Richard were already affected by traffic using the busy road, including HGVs, that made “the whole house shake”.

“Every journey we want to make, we have to get into a stream of traffic,” she said, adding that the roadworks would make exiting their house on to the A339 almost impossible.

They had already stopped using their small car for journeys along the A339 to Basingstoke for fear of being “sucked under a lorry” in the airstream from oncoming HGVs, a situation that the couple fear could worsen if more traffic pours onto the A339 after the bridge has been strengthened.

She said that work to strengthen Knights Little Bridge, which is south of Knight's Bridge, around two years ago,

involved the use of heavy piledrivers that also shook the house.

“We really did have an awful lot of upheaval last time,” said Mrs Karnehm, who suggested that the work should be

undertaken overnight to cause less disruption.

Les Francis, aged 61, of Headley, whose house is located near the junction of the A339 and Thornford Road, said that when he moved to the property five years ago, he was asked by Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council to install equipment outside to monitor the air quality.

However, he said that he had heard nothing back from them over the issue, yet the traffic was increasing.

“The noise from cars means I don't use my back garden much,” said Mr Francis, who added that there were car accidents outside his house at an average rate of about three times a year.

Mr Francis, who has four children and four grandchildren, said that he was concerned for his family's safety and also

about the air quality.

Basingstoke and Deane borough councillor, Cathy Osselton (Kingsclere, Con) took people's concerns about the Headley

A339 lane closure to highways officers at Hampshire County Council in Winchester.

Following a meeting on Monday December 5, Mrs Osselton said that progress had been made during discussions and that the county council would be issuing an official statement this week on the outcome of the talks.