Broadbridge Heath bypass works are a ‘total waste of £2m’ says retail chief

Steve Nicholls, manager of Newbridge Garden Centre said the works had hit the firm ‘more than most’.

He said: “[The impact on business is] hard to say. It has had a major impact I’m sure.

“It’s a totally needless waste of £2m. I just think it was completely unnecessary.

“There was no congestion anywhere around this garden centre. [Now] at peak times it’s backed up as far as the eye can see.”

But this isn’t the first time roadworks have caused issues for Steve.

He added: “We were absolutely destroyed for six weeks [when Five Oaks Road was closed between the garden centre and Newbridge Roundabout].”

The bypass works, which saw the A281 closed in May, are expected to last until autumn.

Once the roadworks have been finished the A281 will reopen, but only to buses and taxis.

Steve said: “They built 1,000 houses outside my door and thousands more elsewhere. The road can’t cope.

“Nobody realised just how much impact it was going to have until it happened.

“They need to build a dual carriageway from Broadbridge Heath to Guildford. They would have been better off doing that. It seems daft.

“It’s only going to get worse and worse and worse. All those cars are going to come in this direction on a single carriageway.

“It will all basically meet at the roundabout outside Newbridge Garden Centre.

“It all has to go straight through rather than be able to go left. It’s going to be massive. [The] infrastructure is rubbish because there isn’t any.”

But it’s not just the Newbridge area which Steve said is causing problems.

He added: “I was driving that way [towards Highwood Mill] last week. That roundabout is absolutely ridiculous.”