This statement has been issued by Shropshire Council. Yesterday, the 722 ran as normal. That might change. There is extensive rat running on Squirrel Lane. Signs are in place to discourage this but they are being ignored. There have been several near misses. Trucks have become stuck. The edges of the road are being churned up. One resident was so fed up she lay in the road to protest!
Dear Councillors,
I’d like to update on the current situation in regard to the work being carried out by Severn Trent Water at Rocks Green – and also to give some assurance on the extent of damage caused, the safety concerns and the logistics involved in making the highway safe for use.
This was a major water mains burst of a 10” pipe which has caused over ¾ of the carriageway and footway to be structurally undermined – this has been managed so far on a monitored and interim basis by applying and re-applying stone to the affected areas and in order to initially excavate around and repair / renew the burst pipe. During this time pedestrians have needed to be guided safely through the site by operatives.
An urgent meeting was called this morning with the lead officer from STW in order to discuss the issues raised and look to mitigate where possible – in addition the site and scope of work has been assessed by Highway and Street Works officers.
Unfortunately, due to the both the extent of damage and the depth (350mm) of compliant reinstatement required, it’s not logistically possible / feasible to carry out this work safely either by a series of overnight only closures or sequential Sunday working.
In other words works need to start and complete in one hit – and, due to the extent and nature of the damage caused, it’s neither safe or feasible to re-open the road in-between phases.
All emergency services have been informed of the restriction and STW have committed to provide gatemen during the closure who will endeavour to maintain guided emergency access through the site when required and achievable.
We have also liaised with our Passenger Transport Team who have advised that for the period of the closure some bus services will be affected and may also, as a result, experience some delays.
Those services affected are:
- The 292 local Bus Service which operates between Kidderminster & Ludlow, operated by R&B Travel which will be diverting via Caynham therefore omitting all stops between Clee Hill and Ludlow.
- The 722 Ludlow Town Service/Park & Ride will not serve the Rockgreen estate during the closure.
- The Ludlow School and college bus that serves Stottesdon & Burwarton (LU0143) will serve of all of its stops, but may experience delays as a result of the diversion. This has been communicated to both the school and college who are communicating this to parents.
STW have indicated that the work should, barring any further unforeseen circumstances, be complete and the road re-opened by Saturday afternoon 7th December. In addition the site will be monitored today and tomorrow by a Street Works inspector and any issues raised direct to STW on site.
The traffic throughput through Caynham village has increased at least 10 fold, significantly increasing the risk of accident for pedestrians especially where there is no walkway. HGVs, cars and vans travelling both ways have little regard for the safety of pedestrians, ignoring the speed limits and risking knocking down pedestrians rather than slowing down. It is also significantly more difficult / dangerous for residents when attempting to join the main carriageway from their drives. Further erosion of the verges (where they exist) has left even less room for pedestrians.
It never seems to occur to the authorities that putting heavy traffic through small country lanes causes dangerous situations, why don’t they make the whole detour have a 30mph limit?