Saunders Lane has in the past always been a quiet country lane running East-West along the Southern Slope of Hook Heath. With the over-development reaching-out from the skyscrapers in Woking, it has become busier and busier. The two developments proposed by Martin Grant Homes need to be looked at cumulatively with respect to these other developments. We need to protect Saunders Lane from over-development and the resulting increase traffic congestion.
At the Western end of Saunders Lane there is a dangerous crossroads with Blackhorse Road and Heath House Road.
The junction with its limited visibility of fast travelling Blackhorse Road traffic is a noted accident black spot. Rights of way are ambiguous with the South end of Heath House Road having a STOP sign, and the end of Saunders Lane having a GIVE WAY sign.
This leads to all sorts of miscommunication with hand getures, headlight flashing or just plain going anyway!
At peak times, Saunders Lane is already congested with traffic cutting through to the A320.
The knock-on effect of the queues at the Brookwood traffic lights cause traffic to turn right from the A322 northbound, down Heath House Road and then left at the dangerous Blackhorse road junction, making this junction really busy and hazardous.
Now with Martin Grant's plans to build over 300+ new houses along Saunders Lane, with two entry/exit junctions, the traffic congestion will only get worse.
At peak times, Saunders Lane gets very busy, with vehicles speeding along the wider parts of the lane.
Saunders Lane is a well known cut-through route for traffic moving from the A322 to the A320 and vice-versa.
The middle stretch of Saunders Lane near the Emmanual Church is very narrow with unmade verges on the Nothern side.
There's barely enough room for two cars to pass, without one having to mount the footway to create the space.
At peak times, Eastbound traffic queues down the lane to join Smarts Heath Road. At Smarts Heath, traffic queues to cross the single track, Traffic light controlled bridge over the railway.
And this is NOW, imagine what effect 300 more properties on the lane will cause!
With the recent Cala Homes development ("Chestnut Fields") plus the Hoe Valley School and SportsBox, the traffic delays along the A320 and across the Mayford roundabout have increased dramatically
Now, we also now hear of a further proposal by Cala Homes to build 74 more homes around the existing "Edwins" garden centre effectively completing the urban sprawl of Woking into Mayford.