The problem of the level crossing at the bottom of Reigate Hill next to the station has been stretching the minds of local people and elected representatives for many years. It is a major cause of traffic congestion in and around Reigate which has been exacerbated by the old signaling equipment being used to regulate the barrier downtime, increased numbers of scheduled trains crossing, and the pre-COVID increase in traffic using Reigate Hill both for local destinations and as a route to and from M25 Junction 6, totaling around 20,000 vehicles per day.
Clearly, any solution to this would be extremely costly and present an engineering challenge, not to mention months of disruption whilst any work is carried out, meaning that no viable solution has been available to date.
However, over the last couple of years, one of our local residents, Mr. Alex Brugger, a retired architect, has been working on a solution which, I believe, could form the basis of a long-term plan to remove this problem and create a much-improved traffic flow system in Reigate for the future.
In brief, his plan is to lower the level of the station and the track, so that trains run under the road, allowing traffic to flow freely above. This would involve digging a gulley for the track between Nutley Lane Bridge in the east and Croydon Road Bridge in the west.
More information about this plan can be found at the following link to a recent Surrey News article:
https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/retired-architect-says-hes-figured-17893600
Mr. Brugger has recently put a proposal to the £100mio Surrey Community Projects Fund here:
The proposal is to seek funding (in the lower range of £10,000 - £250,000) for a topographical survey to be conducted to establish whether or not the concept of a lowered station and road overpass is possible from a topographical perspective, prior to any more detailed plans being drawn up.
I would encourage residents to join me in supporting this application to establish the viability of the concept.
It may be a very early step in a very long process, but it is a positive move to try to address this local infrastructure problem and address the traffic chaos that has been a blight on Reigate, for future generations.