Operation Resilience - Apology From Hampshire Highways
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- Category: Local Roads and Infrastructure
- Last Updated on Tuesday, 14 July 2020 16:24
- Hits: 10357
As residents of Bramley will be acutely aware of if you had attempted to use The Street last week (around the 4th October), some confusion arose due to the roadworks taking place primarily due to the lack of prior notice and the display of any alternative routes. Some drivers were being let through, others were being told to go around. Generally, there was confusion throughout with plenty of comments on Social Media and in the Community Forums.
These roadworks were a continuation of the roadworks first advertised in Temporary Road Closure - Sherfield Road (Between Mill Lane and Bramley Lane/Stratfield Saye Road) which were being carried out as part of "Operation Resilience".
Our County Councillor Rhydian Vaughan, has been contacted by Derek Osbourne (Highway Engineer - Planned Maintenance - Hampshire Highways), who offered an explanation and an apology for how the roadworks were carried out.
Dear County Councillor Vaughan
You will be aware that our surface dressing operations team installed a new surface dressing treatment on Sherfield Road, on Monday of this week. Although planned, the work was delivered with a shorter than normal notification period, due to the reducing window of good weather and a desire to protect the road before winter sets in. The dressing was successful and sweeping was carried out quickly to reduce the level of loose material on the surface in line with our contract specification.
However it was also brought to my attention yesterday that the secondary part of the treatment, which consists of a sealant applied to more heavily trafficked roads, was completed with no public notification at all. This is of course not acceptable and we will be taking this up with the team involved as a contract service failure. Please let me apologise on behalf of the operations team, for this error and the inconvenience it will have caused.
Aside from the manner in which the operations took place, with the work now complete the condition of the whole section is likely to have been secured for many years into the future. That’s said, you may have also noticed that the red antiskid surface installed on the pinch point just south east of Bramley village is in poor condition. Surface dressing cannot repair this and as such, this will be repaired separately, at a later date. We will notify you separately when the resources are available to carry the work out.
Once again, please accept our apologies for the lack of notification during this treatment.
The Parish Council did not receive notifications of the works to be carried out and were unable to warn residents prior to them starting, but from the above it appears they took the opportunity of a "weather window" to complete the works. Whilst it was a major inconvenience for residents, thankfully the completed works will have improved the condition of the road for the foreseeable future. Rest assured, the Parish Council will always endeavour to notify residents with as much notice as possible but more often or not, the Parish Council receive notifications at the same time as local residents.