A322 Bisley and West End Bypass - 1992 proposal

[M4 Cardiff]

I as looking on the Surrey Heath Council planning portal from some documents to assist with a site, and I noticed an application for a linear site recorded as 92/0686 - Consultation under Regulation 3 in respect to construction of a road between the A322 Lightwater Bypass and Limecroft Road, with link to Lockfield Drive, Knaphill.

I have screengrabbed the map, but not sure about copyright, so when i get time i'll copy over a rought sketch onto an OSM base.

However a description of the route is as follows, from the north:
Duvergence from Lightwater Bypass just north of junction with Guildford Road. Quite a bit of land take here, so a sizeable junction. Also re-alignment of Blackstroud Lane, Windlesham Road and Hookston Lane. New A322 would loop round West End to the east, crossing the A319 before turning south to cross Beldam Bridge Road. Realignment of Beldam Bridge Roadis included in the boundary.
the new road would then have turned south-east to cross the Bourne River. just south of the bourne, theroad would have its western spur ro join end on with Ford Road, Bisley, where it meets the existing A322. The main route would then have carried on to Chirch Lane, to the east of Bisley, whre two roundabouts were planned. The route would have terminated with a roundabout on the A322 Bagshot Road at the Limecroft Road / Stafford Lake junction.

Based on application widths, the northern half may have been a continuation of the duall carriageway, with the southern two parts being S2.

[A303Chris]

That's a cracking find, it was actually a Surrey CC application and Surrey Heath were just a consultee. Thus Reg 3 Surrey were the applicant and determining authority.

Link to planning map

Click on the link and zoom in and the route will appear. No other plans are available.

The only issue with this is why it would solve Bisley and West End, It would still slam in to Lower Knaphill and the Brookwood traffic signals, which will causing delays, the delays are reduced getting through West End and Bisley.

From Bracknell to Guildford, the quickest way is to go A3095 to Blackwater then the A331 Blackwater Relief Road and A31 Hogs Back, even if it is 7 miles longer.

However best thing to resolve traffic around here would have been the M31!

[Ritchie333]

The A322 Lightwater Bypass is rather odd. It's on a non-primary route and while it's perfectly acceptable, it slams into a roundabout at the south end and trundles through endless semi-suburbia towards Guildford, as very much a local road. I guess it was planned in the late 1960s as part of what we know now as the M31 route, and was kept in the programme without changing. IIRC (can't find a direct source right now) it opened in 1978; had it been planned even five years later I wouldn't be surprised to find it being single carriageway.

The A331 is a much later proposal, and what probably killed the extension off.

[Micro The Maniac]

The A331 is a much later proposal, and what probably killed the extension off.

Just a pity it ends where it does (in College Town) and doesn't go all the way through to Bracknell (along the line of A3095, at least to start with)

As an aside, does anyone know why the number A331 was chosen - given that it ends on, and largely replaced, the A321... was it just a typo?

[Chris5156]

As an aside, does anyone know why the number A331 was chosen - given that it ends on, and largely replaced, the A321... was it just a typo?

I doubt it was accidental. It may be because the two existed in parallel while the A331 was under construction - it opened in stages over several years, in which time the parallel A321 would still have formed a through route.

It may even be an example of a David Craig Number - M3 + A31?

[Owain]

As an aside, does anyone know why the number A331 was chosen - given that it ends on, and largely replaced, the A321... was it just a typo?

I doubt it was accidental. It may be because the two existed in parallel while the A331 was under construction - it opened in stages over several years, in which time the parallel A321 would still have formed a through route.

It may even be an example of a David Craig Number - M3 + A31?

I have driven on the southern end of the A331, and I was amazed at the high standard to which it was built. It might be short, but you kind of wonder why they didn't call it A32 - they wouldn't even have had to steal the number, because the road to Gosport could've retained it.