An appetite among Oxhey residents for radical changes to the Bushey Arches traffic network was left unsatisfied, following a meeting with highways officials this week.

More than 85 people filled Bushey and Oxhey Methodist Church hall to discuss the continuous problems caused by the heavily congested route linking Watford town centre with Bushey and Oxhey.

However, to their disappointment they were told only small improvements would be made as plans to redesign the traffic flow through the arches had proved too “difficult” and expensive.

During the Oxhey Neighbourhood Forum organised by Watford Borough Council, residents also raised their concerns about over-development of the area and the further impact this would have on local roads, following the approval of plans for 71 flats on the former JR Tagger site.

One resident said: “Bushey Arches is a tremendous bottleneck. It's very questionable what good traffic lights at Bushey station on queues. How can you justify putting flats on the Tagger site. That site never should have had a garage on it 20 years ago. Yet you're actually awarding developers to put more development on that site.”

Another speaker said: “Building extra flats and extra traffic around Bushey Arches is not going to help the situation.”

Meanwhile, the audience reserved its applause for one person, who suggested building a new road underneath the railway line, to link Waterfields Way with Three Valleys Way and Aldenham Road.

Ian Thompson, from Hertfordshire Highways, said: “It's incredibly difficult. We are constrained by bridges. A major scheme was looked at a few years ago so we are looking away from doing something radical. We know there's an issue and it's been looked at a number of times before so now we're having to look at other schemes.”

Some residents living near Bushey station also resurrected support for a Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ) to be adopted to commuters would be prevented from parking outside their homes.

But Iain Sharpe, an Oxhey ward councillor and portfolio holder for planning and development said that consultation on this issue two years ago produced “quite a resounding 'no' from villagers as a whole”.

He said: “We are aware there's still a hardcore around the station where we do need to have a further look but then that would have an impact onto neighbouring roads who certainly don't want it. It's not something with an easy answer.”