No one is looking forward to this but there will be a road closure on Foldgate Lane from 26 February and three way lights on the Foldgate Lane Sheet Road junction from the end of March.
The Foldgate Lane works are essential to connect the latest phases of the Ludlow Green development (Crest Nicholson) to the sewerage network. The traffic lights were due to be in place over the Easter holiday but after I said that was unacceptable, Shropshire Council’s highways team negotiated for the lights to be lifted from 28 March to 2 April. Even so, these works will cause significant disruption to traffic entering and leaving the town on Sheet Road, including the 722 park and ride service.
The A4113 works are in preparation for resurfacing over the summer. The A4113 will be closed at Bromfield from Tuesday 20 February to Wednesday 28 February, 9.30am to 4.00pm. No weekend working. Long diversions.
The Foldgate Lane works will involve deep excavations. They will begin on Foldgate Lane and end up at Sheet Road. Cyclists, pedestrians and dog walkers will be allowed through where possible. Access to homes will be facilitated and the contractors, RR Groundworks, will liaise with residents on this.
Once the section on Foldgate Lane is completed, the closure will be lifted. Work will then proceed on the old lane, now a cul de sac. The original plan had been to take the pipe along the modern road outside the Co-op. Highways officers negotiated for this to be routed along the old lane to reduce traffic disruption. The residents on the lane will be glad when this is all over!
When the works get to the Foldgate Lane Sheet Road junction, that will be on 24 March on current plans, the three way lights will come into operation. A lane will be closed on Sheet Road and into Foldgate Lane. Both pedestrian crossings will have push button traffic signals. This is essential for safety for pedestrians. And dogs. Both crossings are busy with people walking dogs, and as often, dogs walking people.
As always in Ludlow, road works are set to frustrate us. But we can’t have new houses unless they are connected to the sewerage system.
I’ll keep people updated if further information is provided.
I am concerned about delays to traffic, especially the park and ride buses. Signals contractors will monitor the operation of the lights to ensure the system does not gridlock.
Andy, on Foldgate Lane, you don’t actually say what the start and end dates are now planned to be.
I have been appraised by others of the detailed information you have admirably published but of which I – and maybe also other residents – of Foldgate Lane have been ignorant until now. I live on this Lane, arguably the road most disrupted by the works, but with barely a week to go before Foldgate Lane’s closure I have had no contact from either Crest Nicholson or RR Groundworks. Apart from a big yellow sign opposite my front gate with news of the Lane’s imminent 6-week closure, your newsletter update is the first time I’ve seen any details or map. There is only a handful of residents who live on this Lane, and I feel it would have been a simple matter of common courtesy for us to be contacted by the instigators over the effects of this closure, given that the new housing groundworks are in full view only metres away.
I wonder how this will pan out – particularly with refuse collections? Communication in this country is poor at the best of times but given the overall impact of these works, those most affected have once again been left in the dark.