East Street, Epsom planned improvements for traffic and pedestrians

For many years, the possibility of building a lay-by outside the parade of shops on East Street next to Chuters Grove has been discussed. Residents have complained, that parking on the highway and also on the pavement has delayed traffic wanting to travel into Epsom and also made it difficult to see oncoming traffic from vehicles turning onto East Street. Officers had been reluctant to build a lay-by as it would be very expensive due to the pipes and cables under the pavement which would have to be lowered.

After a site meeting with highway engineers, the Lib Dem County Councillor Stella Lallement and the Residents' Association Borough Councillors Michael Arthur, Humphrey Reynolds and Clive Woodbridge, it was agreed that part of the pavement will be strengthened and half-on the footway, half-on the road parking spaces will be introduced in front of the shops. Spaces for around four vehicles will be provided, instead of the two spaces currently available on the road. Bollards will be placed on the pavement to prevent unauthorised parking.

The traffic island opposite will also be removed during the school summer holidays to make more space for traffic queuing to turn right into the Kiln Lane industrial estate and make it easier for traffic going to Epsom to pass, easing congestion at this junction. A new pedestrian crossing will be built at the Kiln Lane junction instead.

Cllr Lallement says "Discussions had been going on for a long time. We needed a solution. If we did not want vehicles parking on the A24 and no lay-by was possible, we would have to come up with another solution. That was when I suggested a scheme where cars would be parking half-on the road and half-on the footway. Parking half-on the road and half-on the footway schemes have been successfully implemented in other towns and in Epsom we have Ebbisham Rd off Dorking Rd and Millais Way off Hogsmill Way."

Councillor Michael Arthur said "We have been trying for many years to overcome this bottleneck caused by the constraints of the island and the parking. These alterations plus changes to the Kiln Lane traffic signals to incorporate a pedestrian crossing on the Ewell side compensating for the loss of the traffic island refuge, will allow a much longer turning lane into Kiln Lane, a clear forward lane into Epsom, a short term parking facility for the shops, and a much improved traffic flow along this busy route."