Network Rail make late changes to plan to close Upper Teddington Road railway bridge (From Richmond and Twickenham Times)

Network Rail make late changes to plan to close Upper Teddington Road railway bridge

1:04pm Thursday 1st July 2010 in

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The borough’s transport chief said she was shocked at a last minute change to proposals to close a busy borough road.

Richmond Council is collecting views after a meeting last week in Hampton Wick to discuss plans close Upper Teddington Road as repairs need to be carried out on a railway bridge next to Hampton Wick station.

Network Rail, which owns and operate Britain’s rail infrastructure, initially told Richmond Council it had two options for this works - closing the road for eight weeks from late July or part closure for ten weeks and four weekend closures.

However, just days before the meeting the 10-week closure was extended to 15 weeks, with seven weekend closures.

Councillor Clare Head, Richmond Council cabinet member for transport, said: “I was shocked to find out just a day before our public meeting that Network Rail suddenly said it needed up to 15 weeks to carry out these works if it could only have a partial road closure “Whichever option is adopted, I can confirm that following a site visit this week that Vicarage Road will not be closed or used as a storage area.

“There will also be pedestrian access at all times and we will provide six extra parking spaces to support local shops.

Coun Head said council officers were collating residents’ views and they would inform the council’s decision, which is likely to come within the next week.

She added: “We committed from the outset to make this decision as transparent as possible and it would have helped if Network Rail had not changed its mind at the last minute.”