NETWORK Rail recently completed works applying chevrons to the frequently struck railway bridge across the A325 at Wrecclesham.

The works were facilitated by Wrecclesham Village Voice’s (WVV) campaign for a safer bridge, organised by Lynley Griffiths, with the support of Jeremy Hunt and help from key staff at his Surrey office.

WVV’s aim was to reduce the risks of bridge strikes in the village and the group undertook a slow but constructive series of discussions over 12 months with Surrey County Council and Network Rail, resulting in the application of chevrons to the bridge’s collision protection beam over four nights in January.

WVV acknowledged that while it was likely the application of chevrons and repairs to lighting on the mandatory height signs on the bridge would not stop the bridge being struck it was hoped, with the bridge more visible, the severity of the strikes would be reduced.

The next phase in the risk-reduction process is Surrey County Council’s planned replacement of the obsolete vehicle-activated over-height vehicle signs with modern, more visible, informative and reliable signs.

The contract for these works has been allocated and the county council are working with the contractor to programme the work which includes applying for road space.

WVV is still in discussion with Surrey over the provision of additional road and pedestrian safety measures on the A325.

Jeremy Hunt, MP for South West Surrey, said: “This is good news and hopefully will help minimise the risk of future bridge strikes.

“There’s still more to be done to improve road safety through Wrecclesham.The new vehicle-activated signs either side of the bridge are now on order, which will really help, and foliage has now been trimmed either side of the bridge to improve visibility.

“We also really do need a speed camera somewhere and the local community group and I continue to campaign for this.”