Opening of new bridge to ease Surrey village's traffic bottleneck delayed

Drivers face a longer wait to use a bridge designed to ease a notorious traffic bottleneck after its opening date was delayed. Chester Bridge in Ash was due to open on Saturday, November 23 but motorists will have to use a new diversion route until the new year.

Currently Ash’s roads get clogged by the continuous closure of the level crossing. It shuts around eight times an hour meaning the cars can not get across the railway for up to 25 minutes every 60 minutes.

Not only does this create a lot of congestion around the station, it also leads drivers to travel down rural roads in order to avoid the area. However, the new £19million Chester Bridge goes over the railway meaning all vehicles will use it instead of the level crossings stopping the delays.

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Phase five of the project has been postponed and will now start in early December meaning the new bridge will not open until January. The new dates will be confirmed when they can, as well as details on the new diversion route for cars and light vehicles to use between the start of Phase Five and the opening of the new bridge.

Councillor Tom Hunt, Guildford Borough Council's Lead Councillor for Regeneration, said: “It is disappointing to have to postpone Phase Five and the opening of the bridge. We will announce new dates as soon as we can.”

The bridge has been named Dr Henry Morris Chester, who was a generous benefactor in the area and reportedly requested in 1895 that a bridge be built over the Ash railway line.