Sherfield Road to close for months leaving residents angry

Sherfield Road, from Sherfield on Loddon to Bramley, will be closed from Monday, November 20 and will continue until a break over Christmas, beginning on Monday, December 18.

The works are then due to restart in early January 2024 and will continue until Wednesday, January 24.

The work being completed is excavating in the existing highway to lay a new power and fiber optic cable to connect a new solar park, currently under construction, to the existing substation in Bramley Road.

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The diversion route was initially planned to be Cufaude Lane, but this has since been changed. All traffic will instead be diverted through Bramley to the A340 Aldermaston Road.

Residents have expressed concerns about the timing of the closures, saying they received "next to no notice" that the closure would be taking place and the length of the works.

Mark Adams, 56, said: "Bramley and Sherfield support each other, with many residents using services from Bramley - for example the bus service, the train station, the GP, not to mention the school kids who will be affected by this. 

"Local businesses will also be affected massively, as they rely on passing trade from the A33 through to Bramley as a large proportion of their business, which they will lose for a number of months through no fault of their own.

"This is a decision that wasn't made yesterday. A decision that could have been planned better to minimise the disruption that Bramley, Sherfield and even those just using the road as part of their travels [will suffer]. 

"Why are we in the village being made to suffer due to the needs of a contractor, and at the worst time of year as well."

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Gaynor Hollis and Billie India, who work at The Coffee Shop, in Bramley Road, just off the A33, raised concerns about schoolchildren having to leave earlier during the dark winter months and the lack of warning about the closure. 

Billie said: "It's a major diversion at the absolute worst time of year. There's an extra 45 minutes needed for the kids' bus route, and some of the kids are very young, which means they will be up and out of the house for an extra hour and a half a day, in the middle of winter."

Gaynor added: "It may only be a small road but it is a major through route for lots of people, for a multitude of different reasons. As it is they've left the village with one way in and one way out, and given no advanced warning or consultation that it was even going to be happening."

A spokesperson for Hampshire County Council said: “We receive many requests from utility companies to temporarily close roads to enable them to undertake work on the public highway.

"In the majority of cases, signed diversions are put in place, with local residents and road users advised well in advance. The aim with all roadworks is to complete them as quickly as possible, minimising disruption to road users.

"While we understand that roadworks can cause inconvenience, they are nevertheless necessary, and are ultimately designed to improve travelling, maintain roads or, as in this case, enable priority utility works to be undertaken.”