'Dangerous' drivers dodge red lights in Cookham as gas works bring village to gridlock

Cookham looks set for weeks of traffic disruption as ‘essential’ road works spark long delays and tailbacks into Bourne End and towards Maidenhead.

Manually operated lights on Cookham Bridge are set to be in place from today (January 8), to help ease gridlocked traffic in the village caused by Cadent Gas works in Sutton Road. 

The company expects work to be finished in the ‘next two weeks’, though disruption could persist for longer with more gas works planned along the road towards Maidenhead till late March.

Councillor Geoff Hill, Royal Borough cabinet member for highways and transport, said changes to the lights on Cookham Bridge were hoped to ‘reduce the added impact’ of Cadent works.

Cllr Hill said some ‘dangerous’ drivers had jumped red lights at the bridge – which stopped traffic from being able to ‘flow as effectively as possible’ and added to problems.

Some drivers caught in the congestion – and in Tuesday morning’s snowfall – were also spotted marshalling traffic themselves to get vehicles moving through the village’s narrow roads.

A Cadent Gas spokesperson said the company would look to ‘optimise’ its temporary four way lights in Sutton Road to further ease pressure while it works to replace old gas pipes.

The spokesperson added the ‘first phase’ of works in Cookham is expected to be finished in ‘the next two weeks’ which would ‘resolve this current issue’.

However, disruption could still persist as Cadent plans to continue working on Sutton Road for three months.

The company said it will progressively move south along the road towards Sheephouse Road in Maidenhead till March 28.

Councillor Geoff Hill, Royal Borough cabinet member for highways and transport said: “Temporary traffic lights are in place on the A4094, to allow work by Cadent Gas to take place as safely and quickly as possible.

“They are being coordinated with the traffic lights on Cookham Bridge, to allow traffic to flow as effectively as possible.

“However, we have received reports of some motorists ignoring the red stop signal on the Bridge, which is dangerous and also creates a backlog of vehicles.

“To prevent this, and reduce the added impact on the work, the temporary traffic lights will be supported with manually controlled traffic signals on the Bridge from today.”

A Cadent spokesperson said: “We appreciate the concerns of those affected by the current traffic management system, so we will be switching out the traffic lights on the bridge over the Thames.

“This will ease congestion and prevent the traffic blocking the bridge. 

“We will have manually operated lights between 7am and 7pm each day, which will ease the congestion and improve the traffic situation.

“The effect on traffic will be monitored and we look to optimise the flow over peak times.

“We anticipate completing this first phase during the next two weeks, resolving this current issue.

“I would like to thank the local residents for their patience while we complete these essential works."