Cookham bridge: Business warning over bridge closure

Plans to repair a Grade II listed bridge could disrupt businesses in a village, a council has been warned.

Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead (RBWM) councillors approved major maintenance work to Cookham Bridge from October.

Concerns were raised that it would hit the Cookham's hospitality trade during the busy Christmas period.

The council said the "six months of pain" would mean decades of easy operation of the bridge.

Cookham Bridge crosses the River Thames and is a shared heritage site with Buckinghamshire Council and Maidenhead Development Management Committee.

The planned work, due to last about six months, includes re-painting of steelwork, structural bearing replacement, structural strengthening, re-waterproofing and re-surfacing.

A council report said it was necessary for the "long-term preservation of the structure".

The bridge close is due to on 16 October.

Cookham Parish councillor Bill Perry raised concerns about the flow of transport into the town while the work is in progress.

"This will cause considerable traffic disruption into the village and therefore to the businesses of the village - particularly the entertainment and hospitality sector over Christmas, which is their biggest period for income."

Geoff Hill, RBWM's cabinet member for highways and transport said "It's six months of pain for twenty, thirty, forty years of easy operation."

He add there would be "significant diversions around" and that the authorities would "do what we can" regarding parking.

A diversion route will divert traffic along the A4094 south from Cookham, west along the A4 Bath Road, north on the A404, and then along the A4155 Marlow Road.

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