A SERIES of drop in sessions have been announced for the consultation on the closure of Chequers Bridge in Langley.

The bridge closed on Tuesday, August 2 as part of a Slough Borough Council traffic experiment to close Hollow Hill Lane/Market Lane at the bridge.

The sessions will be held at Christ the Worker Church Centre in Parlaunt Road, Langley from 4-8pm on September 29, October 27 and November 22.

The bridge closure will allow officers to assess the impact on traffic flow in the area ahead of the delivery of major transport infrastructure projects, some of which could potentially see the long-term or permanent closure of the bridge.

The projects include the relocation of the Heathrow Express (HEx) depot (2017-2019) and the construction of a western rail link between Reading and Heathrow terminal 5 (2019-2024, subject to development consent).

Savio DeCruz, head of transport and highways for Slough Borough Council, said: “Since the bridge closed we’ve been monitoring traffic levels and reading what people have been saying on social media.

“Clearly a lot of people think closing the road is a bad idea and we understand it’s affecting people’s journeys and increasing traffic on other roads.

“However, closing the bridge now is the only way we can adequately assess the impact.

“If we don’t do this now we’ll be missing the opportunity to properly work out what we need to do to keep traffic moving should the bridge close permanently.

“And if we’re to negotiate with organisations such as HS2 and Network Rail to get the best possible mitigation package for residents, we need the evidence to back it up. Without it, we risk ending up with the closure and no information or money to improve other routes.

“So we ask people to get involved in the consultation and say what we can do to make things better, aside from re-opening the road.”

The council has also launched a questionnaire on Survey Monkey which gives people the chance to respond online without having to email or post comments on social media.

View the questionnaire at www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/895CPFD or send your views to the council at tfs@slough.gov.uk, at www.facebook.com/transportforslough or in writing to Transport and Highways, Second Floor West, St Martins Place, 51 Bath Road, Slough, SL1 3UF.