WHAT better way to start a week at work than sitting in a traffic jam for a few hours? That was the prospect facing thousands of motorists last Tuesday as they crept towards the notorious Handy Cross intersection after the traffic signals on the Cressex roundabout failed just after 7am and once again threw the junction into gridlock.>

The Hell of Handy Cross gets worse

Picture shows an aerial view of the Handy Cross intersection

WHAT better way to start a week at work than sitting in a traffic jam for a few hours?

That was the prospect facing thousands of motorists last Tuesday as they crept towards the notorious Handy Cross intersection after the traffic signals on the Cressex roundabout failed just after 7am and once again threw the junction into gridlock.

Traffic was snarled-up all across the area - vehicles were at a standstill on the M40 northbound to junction three and southbound to junction six and movement into High Wycombe was also brought to a virtual standstill.

The chaos took more than four hours to clear.

This week, a school teacher, business leader and police officers tell Midweek what effects the regular traffic chaos at Handy Cross has on their working days.

Andrew MacTavish, head teacher at John Hampden Grammar School, on High Wycombe's Marlow Hill, explains that the ongoing problems are threatening to disrupt the school's public examination programme which starts this week.

He says: "The biggest worry for us is that the terrible traffic situation will interfere with the public examinations at the school. The GCSEs start on Monday (yesterday) and the 'A' levels a week later.

"Last week we had to delay a Key Stage 3 exam while we waited for pupils to arrive. I cannot say for sure whether it will affect the school's results - the pupils know we will hold exams for them if there is a problem, but many children are already nervous enough and it certainly does them no good at all having to sit in a traffic jam getting later and later for school."

Mr MacTavish explains that the school is particularly badly affected because it draws its pupils from a wide area on all sides of Handy Cross.

He adds: "It seems to happen more and more regularly and the school has now had to adopt an emergency procedure in the mornings - though it can hardly be referred to as an emergency any more, it happens so often.

"When the problems are particularly bad it is common for us to lose at least half an hour of the school day because up to half the staff and pupils are late.

"We used to get very angry about it but we have come to realise the problem won't go away and we just have to accept it - there is a certain inevitability to it these days."

Industrialists have also been quick to draw attention to problems caused by the notorious intersection.

Paul Mainds, managing director of distribution company Cave Wood, on High Wycombe's Cressex Business Park, says: "For everybody on the Cressex it is a major and ongoing headache.

"There are days when the junction runs perfectly well but on other days we have had employees and visitors to our company sitting in the jams for three or four hours.

"For a town which is hoping to attract European trade to the area it is imperative that we sort out this problem quickly, otherwise it will become nigh on impossible to do business."

Mr Mainds is also worried by the junction's safety. He says: "You can be travelling along the M40 quite happily and suddenly there will be a wall of stationary traffic in the inside lane. The motorway also loses a lane at that stage and lorries not coming into Wycombe have to change lanes. I am terrified that there will be an awful accident one day if the problem is not sorted out."

Thames Valley Police Press Officer Marc Sanderson says the chaos at Handy Cross, which appears to be worsening over the months, is causing a huge headache for Wycombe and Marlow Police.

He explains: "Every time the lights fail, which is the cause of many of the problems at Handy Cross, we have to call out a specialist engineer to fix them. This in itself can take up to two hours, by which time the traffic situation has already descended into chaos.

"We have to allocate up to ten officers, who are then unable to attend to other jobs they might have already planned. This is bad news on two counts - it means police time and resources are being wasted and residents might have to wait around if they are expecting police officers to visit.

"It's only a matter of time before this causes a really big problem with the emergency services."

Mr Sanderson says police would like to see an advance warning system installed on roads around the junction so motorists have the opportunity to travel by a different route before they get caught up in it.

He adds: "It would also be a big help to have signs at the junction telling drivers not to jump the lights. Basically the problem is with the intersection itself - it is simply not able to cope with the volume of traffic as it is - but drivers who get frustrated by it and then jump the lights only add to the problem and leave lots of other road users with a headache."

Inspector Martin Bolton, of Marlow Police, tells Midweek that lives are being put at risk across the district every time officers are called to the notorious junction - which can be as often as once a week.

He explains: "In the worst case scenario this means that lives could be put on the line as it puts us in the position that we might not be able to respond as quickly to emergency calls."

How much public money is wasted

INSPECTOR Martin Bolton is planning to meet Highway Agency officials in the next few weeks in the hope of finding a solution to the Hell of Handy Cross.

He is currently in the process of calculating how much public money is being wasted each time the intersection is snarled up.

Each time a problem occurs at the roundabout:

Eight or nine police officers are taken away from their normal duties at a cost of at least £11.33 per hour

A police helicopter is launched to monitor the situation

Up to six police vehicles have to attend the scene

Between three and five hours of police time is lost each time a traffic snarl occurs.

Highways Agency spokesman Howard Cohen says: "It would appear that there is a problem at this junction and we have certainly received many representations with regard to Handy Cross.

"Government policy at present is talking in terms of a general 'slowing down' in highway development nationwide but our officers will be meeting with representatives from High Wycombe in the near future to discuss the problems."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.