Demolition of Houses and Diversion of Ellesborough Road, Wendover for HS2

This is the path along Ellesborough Road in Wendover that I have walked many times on the way to Bacombe Hill. The six houses have now been demolished for ACCESS to the HS2 site. The new railway is actually in a tunnel here before entering what will be a green tunnel past Wendover. I think I saw somewhere that houses will be rebuilt after the HS2 works are complete. 

Next time on my walk past the site I will take some of my own photos. The ones below are courtesy of  the Bucks Herald.

Yesterday I took the photos below of the HS2 works from the start of the (now closed) footpath (as shown on the map on the bottom photo) off Ellesborough Road, looking from right to left. The middle photo shows the cricket pavilion that is still standing.

There is nothing much happening at the moment, but the following article from Wendover News describes the future temporary diversion of Ellesborough Road. It is going to cost an absolute fortune.

EKFB – HS2 Construction Update, July 2022

22 June 2022

 Community, Homepage, Transport

Ellesborough Road and Bacombe Lane diversion

HS2 in Wendover
Work for the construction of the temporary diversions of Ellesborough Road and Bacombe Lane is due to commence now that the property demolition has been completed. The purpose of these diversions is to enable us to construct our site access roads, remove as many vehicles from the public road network as possible and to enable us to construct the Green Tunnel.

The Ellesborough Road diversion is being constructed to the rear of the properties at the north-eastern end of the road just before the bridge over the bypass and Chiltern Rail line. The diversion will run from the access track to the former cricket pitch, behind the houses and will re-join Ellesborough Road approximately 350m to the east. The road includes a bridge that will enable our site vehicles to pass underneath without impacting the traffic.

The Bacombe Lane temporary diversion route will connect from Ellesborough Road near the start of the footpaths to Coombe Hill and Bacombe Hill and run across the field to join the original Bacombe Lane.

Ellesborough Road will be open for the duration of the project although we may need short duration closures from time to time. Once these diversion routes are constructed the current roads will be closed and the diversion routes opened. There will be no through route on Bacombe Lane to Wendover and at the end of the project both of these roads will be removed, and their old alignments reinstated albeit with a slight realignment on Bacombe Lane.

When they say "remove as many vehicles from the public road Network", I guess they mean HS2 vehicles. The plan below shows how it will all look after completion, including the reinstatement of Ellesborough Road and the green tunnel past Wendover.