Concerns for safety as Canvey access road could be closed for rail repairs in Benfleet

10:30am Thursday 11th October 2012 in News

Railway bridge over Ferry Road, Benfleet Railway bridge over Ferry Road, Benfleet

Canvey residents fear they will be trapped on the island over the holidays as one of the two access roads to the mainland could be closed for railway repairs.

Passengers using the c2c line over Christmas will be forced to use replacement buses between Leigh and Pitsea as a 100-year-old railway bridge in Benfleet will be replaced.

Concerns have been raised Ferry Road could be closed between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve while the work is carried out, leaving the island’s 40,000 residents with only one other route, the A130 Canvey Way, off.

Bosses at c2c said the repairs were timetabled at this time to minimise disruption to commuters.

However residents fear the roads on Canvey will become gridlocked as people look to visit their families over the festive season.

Dot Palmer, 65, Linden Way, Canvey, said: “I have relatives over the other side of that bridge in Benfleet that I wanted to visit over the holidays, but now I’ll have to go all the way round through Sadlers and Bowers Gifford.

“The roads will just be so congested because everyone will be looking to get away. What happens if something bad happens like the gas terminals go up, or there’s an accident on Canvey Way, we’ll all be trapped here.”

Dave Blackwell, leader of the Canvey Independent Party says this highlights the growing need for a third road off Canvey, which the opposition party has been campaigning for since 2003.

He said: “Fair enough they have to do the work but it’s going to put Canvey in a real predicament, especially over Christmas. There only needs to be one crash on Canvey Way and everyone will be stuck.

“Canvey is so populated now, how do they expect 40,000 people to use one road? We have been campaigning for a third road for years, and we are desperate for it now, especially if we’ve got another 700 homes coming.”

Essex County Council could neither confirm nor deny whether Ferry Road would need to be closed for the work to take place.

A spokesperson from the authority said: “Due to the bridge being in service for over 100 years, a full reconstruction is required. A schedule for the works is currently being considered in partnership with Network Rail and others.

"Any works will be conducted with the minimum amount of disruption possible.”

Comments(20)

upset says...
10:47am Thu 11 Oct 12

CIIP have been campaigning since 2003!! I don't think so, it must have been when he was a LABOUR councillor.

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marshman says...
11:16am Thu 11 Oct 12

He's having another of those senior moments.

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HadleighBoy says...
11:24am Thu 11 Oct 12

So CIIP how do you propose to manage the process. Ah the deafening silence I know why not wait until the bridge falls down! Idiots

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GentleGiant says...
11:53am Thu 11 Oct 12

Come on, you do not expect ECC to work with the people who pay their salaries do you?

ECC will know full well if the road is to be closed and for how long as it needs approval from them and probably Castle Point Borough Council.

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PJR-121 says...
12:05pm Thu 11 Oct 12

How do you expect 40,000 people to get off Canvey?

Firstly, how many of those 40,000 WANT to get off Canvey - how many are children, how many drive their own vehicles, how many will use a bus etc...

I doubt there are 40,000 cars on Canvey all wanting to use the one road off - so that's a flawed argument for a start.

Secondly, has it been confirmed yet that the road will be closed?

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Olivia2847 says...
12:30pm Thu 11 Oct 12

PJR-121 wrote:
How do you expect 40,000 people to get off Canvey?

Firstly, how many of those 40,000 WANT to get off Canvey - how many are children, how many drive their own vehicles, how many will use a bus etc...

I doubt there are 40,000 cars on Canvey all wanting to use the one road off - so that's a flawed argument for a start.

Secondly, has it been confirmed yet that the road will be closed?
Exactly!

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John T Pharro says...
12:38pm Thu 11 Oct 12

If Canvey Way was to be dualed as it should be there wouldn't be anything like the problems accidents on Canvey Way can cause.
As to the replacing of the bridge whether the road is closed or not just hope it is not the same contractors that are doing Sadler's Farm. If they are doing it we will be lucky to see it finished by Easter 2013

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Royr says...
12:42pm Thu 11 Oct 12

The work HAS TO BE DONE, so the best time to do this is surely when there will be far fewer travellers (both road and rail) about!

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r6keith says...
12:55pm Thu 11 Oct 12

Over the last four weeks a little bridge in Sutton road had to be closed for repairs , not the same main artery as this one but still caused mayhem with the traffic , but the repairs had to be done so we all had to accept the extra traffic getting round the closure much the same as you will.
The repair here was very badly managed and planned out even though small the road is heavily used and when planning the work this should have been considered and the closure worked 24/7 instead of the 5 days a week it was worked. Im certain with planning and thought this could have easily been reduced to a week. How long is the Benfleet closure expected to be ?

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upset says...
1:02pm Thu 11 Oct 12

John T Pharro wrote:
If Canvey Way was to be dualed as it should be there wouldn't be anything like the problems accidents on Canvey Way can cause.
As to the replacing of the bridge whether the road is closed or not just hope it is not the same contractors that are doing Sadler's Farm. If they are doing it we will be lucky to see it finished by Easter 2013
You agreeing with Ray Howard John< first time for everything.

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naffeville says...
1:23pm Thu 11 Oct 12

I chose to live on the saltmarsh, but now its everyone elses fault I have to make a 15 minute detour once in 2 months time, boo hoo

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Canvey Guy says...
1:31pm Thu 11 Oct 12

If the road is closed then re-open the old level crossing that is adjacent to the station, not like there will be any trains!!!!

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andyh says...
1:50pm Thu 11 Oct 12

Canvey Guy wrote:
If the road is closed then re-open the old level crossing that is adjacent to the station, not like there will be any trains!!!!
That's a bright idea that should be investigated. However I suspect that the work needed to reinstate that (effectively rebuild from scratch) would be too great - it is also probably too late to get all the relevant permissions.

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Brunning999 says...
7:06pm Thu 11 Oct 12

Moan, moan, moan.

Sometimes sh it happens .

Use the other road !!

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Hugh.Janus says...
9:46pm Thu 11 Oct 12

What world do these scare mongering Town Council idiots live in. Dave Blackwell states in the Echo - "Canvey is so populated now, how do they expect 40,000 people to use one road"? There may well be 40k people living on this Island of ours but a great deal of them do not drive, are wheeled around in prams, walk everywhere, too old to drive,too infirm to get out etc but you can bet your life they all will not want to get off this Island at the same time. What an idiot! Scare Mongering of the first order.
Majority of people will have the time off over the Christmas period and will not want to use Ferry Road and the Station. So, there is a perfectly good road off this Island, we will have to use that. But please the other 39,999 people,on this Island please dont try and get off all at the same time.

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bob7 says...
12:04am Fri 12 Oct 12

If drivers all take a little more care while the restrictions are in operation, all will be fine. Stick to speed limits, keep your distance from the vehicle in front, keep off your mobiles. Hold ups are caused by people not the roads.

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Sim0n says...
10:10am Fri 12 Oct 12

bob7 wrote:
If drivers all take a little more care while the restrictions are in operation, all will be fine. Stick to speed limits, keep your distance from the vehicle in front, keep off your mobiles. Hold ups are caused by people not the roads.
true very true

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streetboy75 says...
12:44pm Fri 12 Oct 12

ok lets just leave the bridge and wait for it to fall down and blook the road anyway, or even worse kill people as the bridge is now in such a bad state of repair, get over moaning, like the roads are going to be that busy, the island is always like a goast town over xmas.

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jolllyboy says...
2:33pm Fri 12 Oct 12

Gee my visitors are just going to love lugging their cases and christmas presents on and off buses !

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kev1956in says...
7:46pm Sun 14 Oct 12

Essex County Council could neither confirm nor deny whether Ferry Road would need to be closed for the work to take place. The bridge is being replaced, i cannot see how this can be done with traffic flowing beneath it.

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