Seven Hills Road reopens

By MIKENEWS | Monday, August 30, 2010, 08:06

The two month long closure of Seven Hills Road came to an end on Saturday, 48 hours earlier than scheduled.

The Seven Hills Road reopened on Saturday morning. While the work was done on schedule, the opening was earlier than planned as the route wasn't due to reopen until today (Monday).

Although the closure did cause major traffic disruption and affect businesses in Walton, Weybridge and Cobham, the closure was for a much shorter period than originally planned. Gas company Scotia had wanted to shut the main route from the A3 into Walton for between six to nine months.

Some of the gas main replacement work took place during Christmas and Easter. In June Scotia said was confident it would complete the project during the coming two month road closure.

The road reopening means the end of a lengthy diversion route. For through traffic, the alternative route southbound (travelling from Weybridge and Hersham to Byfleet and the A3) was A317 Queens Road, A244 Hersham By-pass/Esher Road/Lammas Lane/Claremont Lane/Copsem Lane, A3,

A245 Byfleet Road. Northbound traffic was diverted along the same route in the opposite direction.

Helen Read, who lives in Walton and works in Cobham, had to use the diversion.

“I got used to it but it was a pain,” she explained. “It was amazing that the gas company was initially looking to close the road for nine months! It’s been manageable during the school holidays – for the couple of weeks before they broke up it was pretty bad. It’ll be great to head straight to, and more importantly, home from work without going around the houses.”