SES Water: A22 closure at Purley

SES Water: A22 closure at Purley

Update 20th July 2023

I'd like to thanks Riddlesdown Residents Association for working with Southern Rail and providing the following brief: Southern Railway have advised and to assist during these works and resulting road closure, that bus passengers for the 412 and 407, can on request between 9 pm and 5 am, ask for access from the Southern team, to use the Purley station subway, to go between the front and rear entrances (west and east side). This can be done by speaking to staff direct, or using the assistance call point. Southern also advise the disabled can use this route at all times, upon request to staff. When staff are not there, for example elsewhere on the station, the gates will be in the open position. The local Southern team will keep this under review as the works progress. Bus users during times that the barriers are closed, should not 'touch in' on the station yellow card readers, unless using the trains. The 'touch in' should only be used on the buses. If bus passengers hold a valid ticket such as a one day Travelcard (covering Zone 6), a London Freedom pass, or a 60+ Oyster card, then they will be able to touch in and out on the station barriers. If in doubt about using a card/phone, ask the rail staff on duty for advice. At all other times when the barriers are closed, bus passengers will need to go via the pedestrian footpath (by the Purley station surface car park, at the rear entrance) and walk into Godstone Rd and then along under the railway bridge, and vice versa.

The first few days are obviously going to confusing for some motorists and bus users. Croydon Council have also advised that they will be monitoring the diversion routes closely and will 'tweak' any diversion routes within the Borough, if necessary. And TfL will do the same with the bus services/stops, if necessary.

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17th July 2023

I have written before about the A22 road closure and wanted to provide a ‘Kenley specific’ update.

SES Water will be closing part of the Godstone Road at the Purley Cross, between the entrance/exit to Tesco in Purley Rd to the entrance to Dale Road closest to Purley. The closure will be for 6 weeks from 22 July until 3 September 2023.  

Warren Rd will also be closed from the bend on Approach Road, leading to the back entrance of Purley Railway Station. Vehicle access will still be available to/from the rear entrance of Purley Station. Foxley Hill Road will also be closed. The map below shows exactly what parts of the A22 will close.

Reason for the works

No one likes road works and the disruption that they bring. However, in order to provide us with essential utilities such as water, electricity, gas and fibre optics the roads need to be dug up.

The aim of SES Water closure is to provide greater resilience into the water network. Several people have asked me whether the works will result in an improvement to water pressure. SES Water have said that this project is about resilience rather than improving water pressure, however, a wider pressure optimisation project is taking place to standardise pressure across the network.

The works

I would like to point people to the SES Water website that has an overview of the works, as well as several ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ which provide very helpful information: https://seswater.uk.engagementhq.com/a22godstoneroad on aspects such as how to get to Purley Station, the diversion routes, bus routes and details about the works.

The aim is to get the works completed as quickly as possible. Works will start at 8am and finish at 9pm (SES are using sound suppressors to reduce the noise as much as possible for people living close by) and will be working 7 days a week. They have permission to extend working hours until 12.30am if needed. Crews will be working on either side of the stretch of between Tesco and Dale Road to get the works completed as quickly as possible

Works will start on private land near Tesco on 17th July, with the road closure taking place from Saturday 22nd July

Along with other councillors, I have asked for reassurance that the works will be finished by the end of the school holidays and have been informed that the project team is confident that the works will be completed by 3rd September.

Pedestrians and cyclists will be able to access through the works via a safe pedestrianised walkway. 

Traffic management and Kenley’s roads

SES Water have been very proactive  with their communications which has helped local councillors, our local MP and Residents Associations to alert residents about the closure. I have attended several meetings with SES Water as I’ve had particular concerns on the impact on the roads in Kenley, some of which are very traffic sensitive due to their narrowness, lack of pavements and topology.

Higher Drive, Park Road and lower Hayes Lane where it meets the A22 in particular will experience more traffic. I know that people living on Higher Drive have had a lot to deal with because of all of the building works over the last few years and this won’t be welcome news.

The traffic management plan is detailed, extensive and designed to keep HGVs off local roads. SES Water and Croydon Council have agreed to put additional signage at Buxton Lane in Tandridge (this needs to be approved by Tandridge Council) and by Hayes Lane where it meets the Godstone Road by the Co-Op to try and divert traffic away from these entrances into Kenley’s local roads. This is due to much of Hayes Lane being impassable in many places and lacking pavements.  These diversion routes will be fed into the systems that sat nav companies use so drivers will be automatically diverted away.

Traffic marshalls will be available at each end of the works for the first two weeks to help direct driver and the SES Water traffic management team will carry out regular check to ensure that signage remains in place and has not been moved. The map below shows the diversion route for HGVs.

Bus routes

There are three affected bus routes that are widely used by Kenley residents. Transport for London (TfL) has now published the changes to these routes. Where passengers need to disembark and then re-embark, they will be given a ticket and won’t need to pay twice.

For the most up-to-date information on bus diversions, please check the TfL website for the following routes. The information below is taken from the TfL website and correct as of 16th July 2023. The bus countdown boards in Purley will give information about buses in the affected areas. These will go live at 5 am on Saturday 22nd July until 9 pm on Sunday 03rd September. These messages are designed to inform passengers of the diversions and service changes to routes 407, 412 and 434.

407

Route 407 is operating a split service between Sutton & Purley Station & between Purley, Sunnydene Road & Caterham. From 5am 22 July to 9pm 3 September, Godstone Road is closed in both directions between Purley Cross and Dale Road for works. Route 407 is operating a split service, Sutton to Purley Cross and Purley Station to Caterham. Buses towards Sutton will not serve Purley / Downlands Precinct (D) and Foxley Hill Road (stops N and Q)

• https://tfl.gov.uk/bus/status/?input=407&lineIds=407&&direction=outbound

412

There will be a bus stand/stop for the 412 at the rear entrance of Purley railway station (east side) which will start and terminate at this location. The 407, which will be a split service between Caterham and Sutton, will stop in this location (to/from Caterham route) but will not stand here.

From 5am 22 July to 9pm 3 September, Godstone Road is closed in both directions between Purley Cross and Dale Road for works. Route 412 will start and terminate at Purley station. Buses will not serve stops to and from Purley Memorial Hospital.

• https://tfl.gov.uk/bus/status/?input=412&lineIds=412&&startDate=2023-08-10T00:00:00&endDate=2023-08-10T23:59:59&dateTypeSelect=Future%20date&direction=outbound

434

From 5am 22 July to 9pm 3 September, Godstone Road is closed in both directions between Purley Cross and Dale Road for works. Route 434 is diverted in both directions via Brighton Road and Old Lodge Lane. The bus will route to Higher Drive via Burcott Road, travel down Higher Drive to Northwood Ave to continue it's usual route to Whyteleafe. Stops between Purley Station / Purley High Street and Hail & Ride Olden Lane will not be served.

• https://tfl.gov.uk/bus/status/?input=434&lineIds=434&&direction=outbound

At the southbound Downlands Precinct Stop, there will be no 412 service available. This stop will be served by the 60, 166, 359, 407, 466 and N68 routes.

Buses terminating at the stop near to the 'Jolly Farmers' pub - stop M (Purley Station/Purley High Street) will be the 127 & 289. The 407 will not use this stop going towards Caterham - users should go to the rear of Purley Station. The 407 going towards Sutton will leave stop P - Purley Station/High street - outside Tesco.

The full list of all bus stops/routes during the course of these works, through and starting/terminating in Purley town centre, are on this link to the RRA's website.
 

Ongoing communications

I will update this news article with any important updates, and SES Water will provide updates on progress through a bi-weekly newsletter for the life of the project. Sign up to receive the newsletter at https://form.jotform.com/231152990422047.

Further information

• Riddlesdown Residents’ Association has a useful resource page on their website: Transport (riddlesdownresidents.org.uk)
• SES Water - https://seswater.uk.engagementhq.com/a22godstoneroad
• Contact me with any queries at [email protected]