Whittlesey TRAFFIC UPDATE 6am FRIDAY 11th OCTOBER
B1040 Traffic Lights: The B1040 was opened late yesterday afternoon. The temporary traffic lights were re-instated by the Dog-in-a doublet a few hours later. Last week I asked CCC Highways to time these traffic lights to give longer on green on weekday mornings, going towards Peterborough, and longer on weekday evenings on green going towards Whittlesey. CCC Highways said that they would consult with their contractor Milestone to see if this could be done. On Wednesday this week CCC confirmed to me that Milestone “would look at extending the ‘green time’ settings”. I’m writing to CCC this morning to get confirmation of the morning/evening prioritisation I requested. I’d be grateful for emails from drivers using the B1040 confirming, or otherwise, whether or not Milestone have taken the requested action to prioritise rush hour traffic in the appropriate directions in the morning and afternoon/evening peak hours.
King’s Dyke Traffic Lights: After having put pressure on CCC Highways about the traffic light timing on the King’s Dyke bridge, I was surprised to learn last week that the ‘man in a van’ we’ve all seen for the past few months there was the Contractor’s (Jones Brothers’) traffic light manager, meant to be controlling the traffic light timings to prioritise letting traffic through to reduce queueing. I advised CCC Highways that that just hadn’t been working, and that more active traffic light management was needed both earlier than the ‘man in a van’ was turning up in the morning and later after he left in the evening peak hour. I’m pleased to report that additional measures to monitor traffic management were discussed between CCC Highways and Jones’ management on Tuesday this week, and it was agreed to make the following four changes:
- As of Wednesday, Jones Brothers were sending two operatives to the site to patrol both ends of the queueing traffic to communicate the length of the queues to the traffic manager on the bridge who will then adjust the light timings to balance out the queues as much as possible.
- Jones Brothers are looking into the possibility of installing cameras along the approaches to the bridge to monitor the traffic so as to optimise the timing of the traffic lights. In the meantime, two operatives will be on site each weekday to manage the flows as mentioned in point 1.
- The Core Highways Officer will in future be on site from 6am to 7pm each weekday, providing the longer hours of active traffic management that I had requested – but please, drivers, report precise details by email to me if you find that there’s no operative on the bridge during those times, and I’ll report it straight away to CCC Highways.
- Jones brothers, as a safety measure, will install water-filled barriers along the length of the traffic management area on the bridge across the closed section of carriageway as a safety measure to prevent unauthorised access to the closed off section of road.
Statement from CCC Highways: I expressed concern at the paucity of information being provided by CCC Highways to local residents. They agreed to issue a public statement, and did so yesterday. It read: “We’d like to provide an update on the number of road closures in Whittlesey and explain the reasons. These are all in place for safety reasons to protect drivers in response to flooding events, and due to subsidence and surface issues which we are working to fully resolve.
There are three emergency road or lane closures currently in place. We’re working hard to minimise the disruption and apologise for the frustrations caused. We are continuing to monitor the impact on traffic and manage the flows as best as possible.
The westbound carriageway, heading to Peterborough, on the Ralph Butcher Causeway at King’s Dyke continues to have one lane temporarily closed while we assess and develop solutions to cracks that have appeared. We’re using two-way traffic lights whilst the lane closure remains in place as we fully investigate the cause of the cracking and what repair work is needed. Until we have undertaken the necessary repair work, the lane closure will remain in place.
Alongside the emergency closure of the Ralph Butcher Causeway, a lane closure was in place in Whittlesey at East Delph (B1040) due to erosion, which has subsequently been subject to a full closure due to flooding. Today, we have heard from the Environment Agency that the levels are dropping and, after the carriageway has been swept, the gates may be open today or tomorrow, subject to the water levels. Once open, there will still be a lane closure in place. We will be carrying out substantial structural repairs which we are working with the contractor to programme as quickly as possible. [subsequently, the B1040 has indeed been opened]
There is also an emergency lane closure on Benwick Road due to subsidence and its cracked and rutted condition – this is one of our soil affected roads. Programmed works will start on this road in late November. This will require a full road closure and involve full reconstruction and resurfacing of the road. Works will conclude at the end of January after which point the road can safely open.
We understand people’s frustrations, but these closures are in place for safety reasons and would urge drivers not to ignore the warning signs. We are continuing to work with our contractors on accelerating the repair work needed as quickly as possible and they are also manually operating the traffic lights at King’s Dyke and Benwick Road, so we can keep traffic moving where possible during peak hours.
We will continue to provide updates, please follow @Cambs_Traffic and signs are in place to help drivers plan in advance and follow alternative routes.”
I’m grateful that CCC Highways have issued this statement, and the information that I have doesn’t contradict any of the points made in their statement. But I don’t believe that the CCC Highways’ statement is sufficiently candid about the problems we face, and the length of time we face before all problems may be resolved. To avoid this message being too long, I’ll give you fuller details about my concerns in a further Whittlesey Traffic update later today, which will concentrate on the longer-term issues.
Cllr Chris Boden 06:00 11/10/24
