Podcast Pete

So just ahead of the Squires Garden Centre on the left-hand side. And more of those high containment curbs a little bit further on down the A25 as the road goes over the River Mole near Castle Gardens. And the planners say that should help cut the risk of any car leaving the road and ending up in the river.

So just ahead of the Squires Garden Centre on the left-hand side. And more of those high containment curbs a little bit further on down the A25 as the road goes over the River Mole near Castle Gardens. And the planners say that should help cut the risk of any car leaving the road and ending up in the river.

I'm now standing at the Betchworth roundabout, and what you'll realise as a driver is moving from Rygate to this roundabout, and then from here to Dorking, various parts of the A25 have different markings in the middle of the road. Sometimes there are hatchings, and sometimes there are solid white lines.

I'm now standing at the Betchworth roundabout, and what you'll realise as a driver is moving from Rygate to this roundabout, and then from here to Dorking, various parts of the A25 have different markings in the middle of the road. Sometimes there are hatchings, and sometimes there are solid white lines.

Well, as you know as a driver, if it's a solid white line in the middle of the road, it means you can't cross it, so no overtaking. Hatchings work in a similar way. They... give the driver a feel that the road is less wide.

Well, as you know as a driver, if it's a solid white line in the middle of the road, it means you can't cross it, so no overtaking. Hatchings work in a similar way. They... give the driver a feel that the road is less wide.

And so it reduces the risk of a car overtaking another one, particularly on one of those stretches of road where you can see a little bit further ahead, but also on stretches of the road like the Reigate bends and also the Buckland bends, where it is really dangerous to do so.

And so it reduces the risk of a car overtaking another one, particularly on one of those stretches of road where you can see a little bit further ahead, but also on stretches of the road like the Reigate bends and also the Buckland bends, where it is really dangerous to do so.

What the plans want to do is to make everything a little bit more uniform and to have more white line central hatching markings to be done from Reigate to Betchworth and from Betchworth all the way through to Dorking. And that will, they say, cut the risk of drivers trying those dangerous overtakes. Well, I'm still here at the Betchworth roundabout.

What the plans want to do is to make everything a little bit more uniform and to have more white line central hatching markings to be done from Reigate to Betchworth and from Betchworth all the way through to Dorking. And that will, they say, cut the risk of drivers trying those dangerous overtakes. Well, I'm still here at the Betchworth roundabout.

And just before I turned on my recorder, there was a near miss on the roundabout, which is ironic because that's the next thing that I wanted to talk about. Because another idea is to make improvements to the road markings here on this roundabout, including the lane arrows to more clearly show what lane a driver needs to be in when approaching it.

And just before I turned on my recorder, there was a near miss on the roundabout, which is ironic because that's the next thing that I wanted to talk about. Because another idea is to make improvements to the road markings here on this roundabout, including the lane arrows to more clearly show what lane a driver needs to be in when approaching it.

it's particularly coming from Dorking to Rygate which is what I think is the problem because of course you can go left up Pebble Hill you can go straight ahead to Rygate or turn right down Station Road if you were going to the Garden Centre and so on I know one of my passengers has always been keen quite rightly to gently remind me to be in the right hand lane when coming into town from Dorking

it's particularly coming from Dorking to Rygate which is what I think is the problem because of course you can go left up Pebble Hill you can go straight ahead to Rygate or turn right down Station Road if you were going to the Garden Centre and so on I know one of my passengers has always been keen quite rightly to gently remind me to be in the right hand lane when coming into town from Dorking

There's so many traffic islands, aren't there, from Reigate all the way through to Dorking on the A25, and a lot of them are in various states of design and indeed disrepair as well. So while all this work is going on that I'm talking to you about, they're also going to be ripping out a lot of those pedestrian traffic islands and replacing them and making them safer and more obvious.

There's so many traffic islands, aren't there, from Reigate all the way through to Dorking on the A25, and a lot of them are in various states of design and indeed disrepair as well. So while all this work is going on that I'm talking to you about, they're also going to be ripping out a lot of those pedestrian traffic islands and replacing them and making them safer and more obvious.

Well, I've just pulled in just past the Brockham Lane junction. So picture the scene as you're turning in and out of Brockham Lane, going perhaps down to the village or coming up from the village and you want to turn left to Dorking or more particularly right to Rygate. That is a really nasty, tricky, awful, awkward junction, isn't it?

Well, I've just pulled in just past the Brockham Lane junction. So picture the scene as you're turning in and out of Brockham Lane, going perhaps down to the village or coming up from the village and you want to turn left to Dorking or more particularly right to Rygate. That is a really nasty, tricky, awful, awkward junction, isn't it?

So what they want to do is to reduce the width of the A25 here, which planners say will make that turn safer and will make it easier to join the traffic already driving towards Reigate. And they'll put in a better pedestrian crossing here as well. Well, as you know, the Planet Reigate area is Reigate, Redhill and Merston, Buckland, Betchworth and Brockham.

So what they want to do is to reduce the width of the A25 here, which planners say will make that turn safer and will make it easier to join the traffic already driving towards Reigate. And they'll put in a better pedestrian crossing here as well. Well, as you know, the Planet Reigate area is Reigate, Redhill and Merston, Buckland, Betchworth and Brockham.