Starting from Monday 22 October Transport for Buckinghamshire (TfB) will be busy in Marlow Town Centre, including commencing work on the bridge bollards upgrade. During this time TfB will also be installing new pedestrian crossing refuge islands outside Burger’s, as part of a joint scheme with the Town Council, using Local Area Forum funding.
Work will take 2-3 weeks to complete, with work taking place Mon-Fri 9pm-6am – when the bridge will be CLOSED. The bridge will be open during the day (ie 6am-9pm) and will also remain open at weekends. Pedestrians can still cross.
Bigger Bollards
The old bell-shaped bollards will be removed and new, more robust, bollards will be installed on both approaches to Marlow Bridge. These are designed to be much more difficult for HGVs to get through, and are intended to deter and prevent overweight vehicles abusing or ignoring the 3.5t weight limit. Both approaches to the bridge will be resurfaced as well. There will be restrictions in place to protect the bridge when the old bollards have been removed and the new ones not fully installed.
Deputy Leader and Transport Cabinet Member Mark Shaw commented: “This work has been a long time coming, and I’m glad that after all the investigations and planning that has been going on behind the scenes we are finally able to move ahead. The new bollards have been designed to be less easy to abuse than the old ones, and will offer additional protection to an important historic structure.”
Improved Crossing
At the same time, to make full use of the road closure, TfB will begin the first phase of work to install a new crossing point at The Causeway, outside Burger’s, in a joint scheme with the Town Council and Local Area Forum (LAF). This first phase, to install the refuge islands, will be carried out under the same night closures as the bridge works and will take around five nights, depending on the weather. The second phase, to remove the adjacent parking spaces and complete a dropped kerb, will be carried out later in the year.
Marlow’s Mayor, Chris Funnell, enthusiastically welcomed the news that the crossing works are commencing this week, commenting: “I’m delighted that after a long campaign to push for this project to get going, the crossing on The Causeway is now finally being started. Safety is our first priority and we need to ensure that everyone, particularly the disabled, young people and the elderly, have a safe way of crossing the road to get to the park. The new refuge will also act as a visual signal to drivers to be vigilant in that area.”
Work commences on the bridge bollards tonight (Monday 22) from 9pm, and the crossing works are scheduled to begin on the Monday 29 October, weather permitting.
