For many, one of the biggest fears when it comes to letting the young people in their charge head out into the real world is the idea of them not paying attention when they go to cross a road. The residents of Guildford have been all too aware of that when it comes to the Epsom Road area of the town, which has been described in the past as ‘incredibly dangerous’.
The result of that was years of campaigning in order to get some traffic lights installed there, which has finally paid off thanks to the fact that that is exactly what has happened. The lights were finally switched on on the 27th of February, promising at least a touch more safety.
Why the Campaign Was Launched
For as long as the area has seen people living in it, there were no pedestrian crossings in Guildford between Boxgrove Road and Waterden Road. That is in spite of the fact that the Royal Grammar School is nearby, as are some NHS facilities and local nurseries. That led many in the area to feel as though the road was ‘incredibly dangerous’, seeing both children and elderly residents have to all but gamble when it came to trying to get across the road. Anyone hoping to reach nearby shops, schools or even GP surgeries would have to hope for the best as they crossed the road, owing to the lack of traffic lights in the location.
A petition was first launched two years ago by a concerned parent named Sam Neatrour, who was worried about the fact that his children had to cross the road on a daily basis to get to school. The high volume of traffic, as well as the speed at which it travelled, meant that Neatrour began his campaign to get Surrey County Council to intervene. He also felt that the speed limit for the road was too high, believing that a reduction in the speed limit to 20 miles per hour would be more suitable. He launched a petition Change.org, which garnered 242 verified signatures, as well as in numerous other areas.
The Crossing’s Construction
It was in the September of 2025 that Surrey County Council launched a consultation asking for the opinions of the public about the possibility of installing a traffic light-based pedestrian crossing on Epsom Road in Guildford, close to the junction of Upper Edgeborough Road. Given the fact that the Royal Grammar School was close to there as well as the NHS’s Austen Road Surgery and numerous different shops and other businesses, it made sense for that to be the location that was chosen for the crossing to be built at. The consultation remained open until the 17th of October, following the campaign of Neatrour.
Neatrour’s campaign was also supported by the Conservative borough councillor, Richard Mills. Having seen 1,000 people sign the petition, a crossing began to be built at the Upper Edgeborough Road location, allowing for local residents to cross over in safety. Neatrour himself thanked Fiona Davidson, the former councillor, as well as other Guildford councillors for their support, which saw a ‘lot of hard work by a large number of people’ eventually paying off. Davidson said that it was ‘satisfying’ to see that something ‘people feel so strongly about can be delivered’, thanks to the installation of the crossing itself.
Work Still to Be Done on Speed Limit
The only piece of bad news for campaigners is that councillors have so far resisted the calls to lower the speed limit on the road from 30 miles per hour to 20 miles per hour. Neatrour is not to be stopped in his determination to see the road made more safe in that sense, saying, “I will continue my campaign for 20 miles per hour zones to make the roads of Guildford safe for everyone.” There are plans to introduce the slower speed limit close to schools being put in place elsewhere in the town, so Neatrour is likely to be proven right in his conviction that the same thing can be introduced on this route, too.
Residents in the Bushy Hill Drive area have backed plans to reduce the speed limit, which would also include Ashbury Crescent, Curlew Gardens and Boxgrove Lane. A public consultation was carried out at the start of February, calling for opinions on whether lowering the speed limit close to Boxgrove Primary School and Merrow Junior School would be the right thing to do, with many feeling that it was. It isn’t the first time that Surrey County Council has carried out consultations on a similar scheme, having also done so in Walton-on-Thames, Dorking and Woking, which is something that will give Neatrour some hope.