PLANS are now in the pipeline for a relief road to relax the chokehold of heavy goods vehicles on villages in South Bucks.

A new strategy group, set up after Buckinghamshire County Council’s (BCC) traffic and transport study last year, has identified “key lorry generating sites”, places with traffic congestion and heavy goods vehicle pinch points in Iver, Iver Heath and Richings Park.

The Ivers Members Liaison Group – made up of county, district and parish councillors – says its top priority is a relief road to ease the problems and it is currently looking at five possible “corridors” through the village. The recommendations, once finalised, will eventually be fed back to BCC for their consideration. Currently no timeline has been disclosed.

Chairman Paul Irwin said: “The group will be discussing three possible corridor options – central, eastern and northern. There are three possible route options within the central corridor, with a number of permutations.”

The three possible routes in the central corridor include land south of Iver Village, Ridgeway Trading Estate, and Thorney Business Park.

Cllr Irwin added: “The eastern and northern corridors are currently at the exploratory ‘broad brush-stroke’ stage.”

Members will work on supporting a business case for the relief road, which they say will not only ease congestion from pinch points, but also clear the way for improvements for pedestrians and cyclists, as well as those going to and from school.

The group also identified major infrastructure projects that would increase lorry traffic.

Cllr Irwin said the group, which will meet this month, aims to ensure community interests are represented when decisions are made about infrastructure schemes that are likely to go ahead.

The group is also looking at how best to spend £500,000 of developer contribution funding for sustainable travel projects and, after consulting residents, says it is backing their preferred option for a walking and cycle route connecting Iver Heath and Iver village.

A number of other important topics will be considered at the meeting, including the Western Rail Link to Heathrow (WRLtH), the proposed Heathrow expansion, and the relocation of the Heathrow Express depot to Langley.

While the group has no statutory powers, it has “strong feeds” into decision making bodies and gives councils a “stronger voice” in negotiating with funding bodies, according to BCC.