- Essential project to maintain safe and reliable gas supplies gets underway
- Work is focused on London Road area and requires traffic management including road closures
- Residents invited to find out more at local drop-in session
Residents are being invited to get the lowdown on an essential project to future-proof gas mains in London Road, Wickford which got underway this week.
The project involves replacing 880m of ageing metal gas mains in London Road, between the junctions with Hill Road in the East and Castledon Road and Belmont Road to the west, with tough, long lasting new pipes. Work is currently scheduled to last approximately 18 weeks.
Engineers are delivering the work in phases with working currently taking place in London Road between Irvon Hill Road and Our Lady of Good Counsel RC Church, London Road. To enable work to be carried out safely a lane closure and temporary traffic lights are currently in place along this stretch of road, and Azalea Avenue is also temporarily closed. This phase is due to be complete on Friday (June 23).
Further traffic management and phased lane and road closures will be required as work progress. Those sections of work with the potential to cause most traffic disruption have been scheduled for the school summer holidays when roads are quieter to keep any disruption to a minimum. The new pipes will also be inserted into the old mains where possible to reduce the need for large excavations and further minimise any local inconvenience.
Working hours are scheduled for between 7am and 7pm Monday to Friday with some additional weekend working when required, to enable the project to be completed as soon as possible.
Residents can find out more about the project and ask questions at a special drop-in session being held at the church hall of Our Lady the Good Counsel RC Church in London Road, Wickford this Thursday (June 22) from 5pm to 7pm.
Cadent Authorising Engineer Dave Jewson said: “This work is essential and will help ensure local homes, businesses and community facilities keep on enjoying safe and reliable gas supplies for cooking and heating in the future.
“We’re doing all we can to deliver the project with as little disruption as possible.”
He added: “Our customer service team is liaising with the local community to ensure we’re aware of any local questions or concerns regarding the project.
“I’d encourage anyone who wants to know more about the project or who has any questions to come and meet us at the drop-in session.”
For more information on the work people can also call 0800 096 5678.
Information can also be found at www.bettergaspipes.co.uk