The county council has established an experimental one way system in Vicarage Road, which is massively increasing journey times (adding anything up to three quarters of an hour at certain times).
Watford councillor Stephen Giles-Medhurst is on the case and trying to get Herts CC to see sense.
You may want to review journey times and anyway avoid the area unless absolutely necessary.
Full details here: Site G final Snagging WIB
It is with regret that I have to inform you that the following sites have unfortunately been postponed due to delays caused by the knock on effects of previous adverse weather, and will be reprogrammed as availability allows, within the current financial year. Once the new date has been established I will let you know.
Over £7m could be cut from the county council’s highways budget in the next five years according to a shock announcement from the Government, reported to the county council’s Highways Panel this week.
The Government has already announced it will give Herts County Council £500,000 less for each of the next 5 years.
Now it says it will receive at least £2.5m over the next five. On top of that a further £4.6m at least will be cut if the county council does not meet performance targets set by the Department for Transport.
Liberal Democrat Leader and Highways spokesperson Cllr Stephen Giles-Medhurst said: ‘This is shocking news and comes when Herts County Council has a massive maintenance back log that will take almost 80 years to clear and a contractor that has been fined for poor performance.
‘Cuts of this size will affect our infrastructure and economic development and I am concerned that the Conservatives at county hall are just rolling over and accepting these cuts to our funding. At the Highways Panel they dismissed my idea that we should protest at these cuts – cuts that a fully Conservative Government is bringing in.’
Liberal Democrats are incensed by the way Herts County Council are downplaying the need to take action on road flooding. Malcolm Cowan, deputy leader of the county council’s Lib Dem group says: ‘I was told by the highways contractors Ringway that road flooding is a low priority and I was unlikely to see any action from a long list of local flooding sites I had painstakingly compiled.
‘I know that gully cleaning is a very hit and miss affair – many drains that are covered with weeds and will not take water are ignored, with possible clearance postponed for up to a year. Yet blocked drains are a major cause of the flooding problem. Driving through a flood means you cannot see any potholes that can cause accidents, and of course the flooding itself rapidly causes further damage to the road. Not to mention the risk of skidding or aquaplaning.
‘Now I have been told that a road has to be impassable for at least 10 hours before action is taken – 10 hours is more than a complete working day. And this excludes the problems of footpaths that are stopping pedestrians going out and about. And of course road flooding can easily lead to the heat-breaking incidence of flooding of property and homes.’
Malcolm added: ‘The stench of complacency needs to be fumigated and some purposeful action take place, starting with insisting Ringway clear blocked drains, not walk away from them.’
We have finally received consent from the Planning Inspectorate to carry out work on Sandpit Lane between Walton Street and Lemsford Road. This will allow us to construct the final link in the scheme and complete the entire loop around the City centre.
The work in question is in two parts shown highlighted in blue and red on the attached plan: Sheet 020G
In the area shown in blue we will create a new 2.5m wide gravel track through the lightly wooded area. These works will be carried out by the District Council. As this work is not on highway land and will not have a significant effect on traffic on Sandpit Lane we are able to start this work fairly soon. The programmed start date is 24th August 2015 and we expect the work to be complete by 1st September.
Works in the areas shown in red will be carried out by Hertfordshire County Council. This work will affect the highway and will have a significant impact on traffic on Sandpit Lane. This is particularly the case in the small red area opposite No. 21 Sandpit Lane where a new toucan crossing is to be installed. Because of this, the HCC contractor must book road space to carry out the work. A three month notice period must be allowed before works can commence. Taking into account the likely construction timescale, this takes us into the Christmas embargo period. This is the period when no works are allowed on the busier roads. Therefore it will be the new year before this work can start and it is likely to be around February/March before the route is fully completed.
The county council’s inability to deal with the simple problem of grass continues as residents across the district wonder why there are weeds growing untidily in the gutters.
Local Lib Dem county councillor Chris White said: ‘Residents in various streets have approached me about this – including, as examples, Flora Grove and Hart Road where the problem is especially noticeable.
‘The function of weed clearance lies clearly with the county council but there has been no way of reporting it online. In fact I was advised to report it as a weed problem on the pavement and append a note saying that the pavement weeds were really in the gutter.
‘It didn’t really matter because the county council reporting system then told me that it was a district council matter away.
‘After much to-ing and fro-ing the county council has agreed it’s a county matter and are now – at the end of the growing season – finally getting round to clearing the unsightly mess.
‘Yet another highways shambles.’
NOTICE is given that the Hertfordshire County Council intend to make an Order under Section 14[1] of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, to prohibit all traffic from using that length of Drovers Way, St Albans from its junction with Russell Avenue north eastwards for a distance of approximately 130 metres.
The purpose of the Order is to enable utility maintenance works to take place.
The section of road will be closed between the hours of 8.00am and 5.00pm on Sunday 16 August 2015, when signs are in place. An alternative signed route will be provided for traffic whilst the road closure is in place.
Resurfacing work, carried out by Eurovia on behalf of Hertfordshire County Council, will begin on Hatfield Road, St Albans on Wednesday 8 July.
The £202,000 resurfacing scheme will take place overnight, between 8pm and 5am, between the junctions with Ashley Road and Clarence Road, using a full road closure. It is expected that it will be completed over five nights, excluding the weekend.
A signed alternative route will be in place. Access to properties during the working hours may be disrupted and all parking bays will be suspended. Any parked vehicles which are holding up the works may be removed.