I drove down A3 section like rollercoaster
A section of the A3 in Surrey is said to be akin to riding on a rollercoaster, according to one Surrey motorist. Earlier this month, on the night of November 9, an anonymous post appeared on one of those localised neighbourhood help sites that seem to be everywhere. Somebody on FixMyStreet had titled it ‘Unevenness of the A3 [S] at this point’.
They stated: “This issue has been present for at least a year if not 3 where the roller coaster ride in both lanes will soon cause an accident for those non locals unaware of its existence!” A pin was dropped indicating where the part of the road in question was, which appeared to be running past Abbotswood, a Burpham suburb, down towards Guildford. They went on to call the part of the road “especially unnerving” in the wet conditions they had recently experienced.
READ MORE: Areas near Surrey in the expanded ULEZ zone, how much it will cost and those that don’t have to pay The motorist added that they drive along the route on most days, and quite often at night. Two days late, on November 11, National Highways seemingly responded to the post confirming it was aware of an issue on the A3 near the spot mentioned.
It added that they were taking it seriously and were “looking at getting works in place as soon as possible as well as daily checks by the inspectors team”. It was only the following week that I decided that I best jump in my car and check out the apparent rollercoaster ride for myself. The result was, at least for me, inconclusive.
I even drove down the southbound section of the road twice on two separate occasions and still could not find the spot the post was concerned about. Coming off the M25 onto the A3, I saw there was some fairly new-laid road – which felt as smooth as air going over – but this was a short distance before the relevant pin I’d dropped into Google Maps. I braced myself while driving but, at a push, there was a slight fairground ride factor as the land naturally undulated – but it is hardly something that can be fixed and surely the post wasn’t talking about this.
So I pulled off the road each time, having driven across all the lanes, none the wiser at this traffic post and wondered if anyone else knows exactly where it is. A spokesperson for National Highways said: “We are aware of reports of a surface defect on the southbound A3 near Guildford. Our inspectors regularly monitor this stretch of the road and currently the surface conforms to our safety standards.
“However, we will continue to monitor this section of road and if its condition becomes safety critical we will undertake temporary remedial works.”
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