Closure of Station Road in Sawbridgeworth sparks rat-run fears among residents

Residents are concerned a three-week closure of a section of road in Sawbridgeworth will mean drivers rat-running through their street, causing dangers to pedestrians.

A small part of Station Road was closed on Monday morning (Oct 7) to facilitate urgent repairs to the roof of a building in The Maltings.

The closure by highways chiefs from Essex and Hertfordshire county councils was supposed to take place last Monday (Sept 30), but it was delayed after complaints of a shortage of notice for residents and businesses.

Traffic coming from Sheering will be diverted along Sawbridgeworth Road back towards Hatfield Heath and via the outskirts of Harlow, but residents fear those who know the area will use Sheering Mill Lane and go through the back turnings and through the town.

One resident said narrow Sheering Mill Lane “was not designed to cope with large amounts of extra traffic” and another commenting on Facebook feared the volume of traffic going along the road would be “ridiculous”.

A resident of Brook Road also feared “chaos” as there were builders’ vans parked near a bend.

In a statement to Cllr Eric Buckmaster, Hertfordshire County Council member for Sawbridgeworth, a highways spokesperson said: “We fully anticipate traffic may choose to cut through Sawbridgeworth town centre to get around the closure and will therefore be working to keep the road network as clear as possible.”

The level crossing at Sawbridgeworth railway station will be inaccessible for vehicles and some residents were concerned pedestrians would be unable to use the crossing.

But station staff member Micheal King said that if the crossing was blocked for pedestrians he would “go out and tell them to move them” as the paths should not be blocked.

Although signs were due to be put up stating it was ‘business as usual’ for firms in The Maltings, many feared the worst.

Melanie Rich, from Enchanted Bridal Boutique, said the closure would mean “carnage” and said already a bride-to-be was late for an appointment because the traffic signals had been stuck on red.

Cllr Buckmaster admitted there was no better way to complete the works, which needed to be completed before the winter months, but stressed the contractor would be working to complete them as quickly as possible.