Update on the closure of the old Hansfield Road

Saturday, March 26, 2011

The County Council at its meeting in July 2008 Adopted and Approved a scheme to facilitate the closure of Hansfield Road to vehicular traffic and its reassignment as a Pedestrian and Cycle Route. Since the scheme was approved sources of funding for projects of this nature are no longer available to the County Council. In the interim the western end of the road has been closed to vehicular traffic including the access from Ongar Village. It was necessary to use the road as a haulage route to facilitate the building of the new schools and sports complex at Phibblestown and the road has been gated at its eastern end. 

As part of the development of the Ongar and Phibblestown housing lands the Council has been working closely with local Developers to secure the provision and development of a new public park to cater for both active and passive recreation. The newly pedestrianised Old Hansfield Road serves is a vital part of this new Park. It provides connectivity and permeability between both sides of the Park and for pedestrian and cyclist movement in the area including access to public transport and schools. 


Maximizing the permeability of the Park through the pedestrianisation of the Old Hansfield Road will be key to the success of the Park in the longer term. 


The Council at present is not in a position to implement many of the elements outlined above. However we will continue to identify possible sources of funding to enable the scheme to be brought to fruition. It should also be noted that the Council is continuing to work with the developers involved both in Ongar and Latchford to improve the visibility and passive supervision along the pathways and intersections. In the meantime the area will be kept as clean as possible subject to available resources.


The proposed scheme provides for:

1. Closure of the Hansfield Road to vehicular traffic, from its junction with the access road to Latchford, Ravenswood and Manorfields Estates (Phibblestown Road) to the roundabout at its junction with the Ongar Road. The works include for the closure to vehicular traffic of the access from Ongar Village to Hansfield Road.

2. Development of the Hansfield Road as a pedestrian and cyclist route consisting of a 2 metre wide footpath and 3 metre wide 2-way cycletrack.

3. Provision of pedestrian accesses to the parkland at Latchford and Ongar Park, Ongar Village, Phibblestown Wood, Phibblestown House and Phibblestown School.

4. Provision of 3 No. gated entrance features at both ends of the scheme and at the beginning of the parkland.

5. Construction of Car Park (50 Spaces) on the Latchford open space inclusive of new access road with traffic calming ramp to cater for both passive and active users of the open space lands and playing pitches to be provided in this area.

6. Construction of footpath and cycletrack on the western side of access distributor road from proposed pedestrian entrance to Hansfield Road to the area of the junction of the distributor road and Annaly Terrace.

7. Provision of Pedestrian Signals on access distributor road to Ravenswood / Manorfields adjacent to junction of distributor road and Hansfield Road.

8. Provision of surface water drainage for the scheme. Existing ditches along the Hansfield Road to be piped and filled.

9. Provision of ducting for new public lighting and appropriate lamp standards.

10. Provision of signage and lining.


In Adopting and Approving the scheme the County Council Approved the carrying out of the following additional works:


• Provision of approximately 200m of railing from the end of the boundary wall of the new crèche on Hansfield Road running westwards to meet the existing wall at the proposed entrance gate at the north-western end of Hansfield Road.
• Pest control prior to commencement of construction work.
• Provision of litterbins and appropriate signage along Hansfield Road.
• Provision of spare ducting in the filled ditches along Hansfield Road.
• Provision of approximately 18m of footpath along Annaly Terrace from proposed new footpath at the entrance to Annaly Terrace to tie-in to footpaths in the estate.
• Provision of approximately 190m of railing from the proposed gated entrance at the southeastern end of Hansfield Road to the entrance to Annaly Terrace.
• Provision of knee rail along the outside of the triangular green area to the south of Hansfield Road at the southeastern end.
• Modification of the car park in the Latchford open space to accommodate the football pitch and it’s associated drainage.



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