Fairford Leys residents 'up in arms' over HS2 roadworks

HS2 conceded in a Parish Council meeting this week that they had done 'no traffic modelling whatsoever' on what works in the area would have.
HS2 conceded in a Parish Council meeting this week that they had done 'no modelling whatsoever' on what works in the area would have.HS2 conceded in a Parish Council meeting this week that they had done 'no modelling whatsoever' on what works in the area would have.
HS2 conceded in a Parish Council meeting this week that they had done 'no modelling whatsoever' on what works in the area would have.

Coldharbour Parish Chairman Cllr Adam Poland-Goodyer posted to the facebook page on Monday that the Parish Council met with representatives from HS2 to discuss the distruption works were causing to the everyday life of local residents.

Mr Poland-Goodyer said: "We believe they understood the seriousness of our concerns and the disruptions caused and we are in the process of scheduling another emergency meeting with HS2 and their contractors for next week to follow up and (hopefully) get some resolutions.

"We are aware that this is only the beginning of the HS2 works and more is to come.

"We raised the concern that there was no formal, timely prior notification of these works (we expected November) and asked them to investigate their own internal processes as to why this happened.

"We also asked about the notification of alternative routes. There seems to be blame shifting between HS2 and Buckinghamshire Council."

HS2 work begun in Stone earlier this month on Oxford Road and will last for a month.

Earlier this month Buckinghamshire Council and Transport for Bucks said that works in the area were HS2's responsibility via their twitter account.

You can read all about what's going on by clicking here. The Internal road that HS2 is planning on building has been delayed by up to two years, because of the River Thame Flood Plain.

This means that a huge amount of works traffic will now be directed down the Oxford Road between 9am and 3pm untill the road is constructed.

The pain of sitting in traffic is then, likely to continue for some time until the road is eventually constructed.

The chairman continued: "HS2 were also forced to admit (following pressure from the Chairman and other councillors) that there has been no traffic modelling on the impact of creating a signalised junction on the Oxford road to the rest of the traffic network in the area.

"We were dumbfounded by this admission and Cllr Cole will be seeking help from our local MP to follow this up!"

Residents have taken to social media to bemoan the works, with one saying: "These light are adding an additional 30 mins to my journey to and from work every day.

"This is not ideal when at the same time I am trying to get to pick my children up from their staggered school times and if I am late it adds additional pressure to all the school staff. The timing of these lights is ridiculous!"

Another complained about why the work wasn't completed during lockdown, when roads were empty.

They posted: "I just don’t understand you’ve had the whole of lock down to do this with no traffic on the roads but you choose now to do this work it’s dangerous too!!

"I too have to commute to Great Missenden every day to take my daughter to school and coming back tonight took me an extra 40mins onto my journey.

"Why can’t you turn off the lights only in rush hours maybe - before an accident happens with so much congestion building up."