YIEWSLEY High Street will be blitzed by lorries when the Crossrail construction project comes to town.
There are expected to be up to 120 lorry movements per day in the short, congested section between the Horton Road junction and West Drayton station, as renovation work takes place – the highest number for any Crossrail site.
Lifts will be installed at the station over a five-week period which could spell traffic misery for local people, plus more fumes and increased danger. But the price to pay for the cross-London rail link may be worth it. Crossrail is expected to bring jobs and prosperity to the borough, particularly around the stations it will serve – West Drayton and Hayes and Harlington.
Councillor Anita MacDonald (Lab), who represents West Drayton, said: “I think the residents will find it very difficult to carry on as normal for those five weeks, but as long as Crossrail sticks to that and the work doesn’t overrun, it may be a price worth paying. For disabled residents and mothers with pushchairs, the station is not accessible, so the proposals to bring in a lift is good news.”
Crossrail Ltd, the company running the project, is trying to set up a series of worksites in the borough which it will use to carry out the massive building project.
It has decided the Horton Road option is the easiest to get the lorries to the station from a worksite at Horton Bridge.
The company submitted its lorry management plan to Hillingdon Council last week, and it will now be considered by the planning committee. No application has yet been lodged for work at West Drayton station.
Preparation work for the various worksites has already been approved, and site clearance is expected to begin before the end of the year.
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