WATFORD HEALTH CAMPUS CHIEFS HIT BACK

Chiefs for the Health Campus in Watford have hit back at the town’s MP’s petition. MP Richard Harrington has asked residents to back his petition against making the Link Road restricted in its use and allow members of the public to use it once the Health Campus project is complete. A Watford Health Campus spokesperson told My Watford News: “The primary purpose of the new road has always been to improve access to Watford Hospital, particularly for emergency vehicles. This has been clear since it was given the go-ahead in 2007 and was also made clear in the planning application that was submitted in 2013. “As well as ambulances, the road will also be used by other  hospital  non-emergency traffic, such as patients and their families visiting the hospital, residents, businesses and associated services located on the Watford Health Campus  taking a huge number of vehicles off surrounding roads. “In building the road, the main entrance to the hospital will also be relocated to the south of the current Watford Hospital site further reducing congestion on Wiggenhall Road and Vicarage Road. “The Watford Health Campus team has worked closely with Hertfordshire Highways (who are responsible for roads in the borough) on the design of the road and how it fits in with the town’s current road network. Allowing unlimited access to the new road would simply cause congestion and compromise the response times for ambulances and other emergency vehicles. At the same time it would shift traffic to other junctions causing congestion in other parts of west Watford. It would also impact on Oxhey Park in terms of additional noise and disturbance. “Automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) is used across the country to ensure people comply with a range of traffic regulations and is being looked at to ensure that the road is used for its intended purpose.” Read more in June’s My Watford News