Repair work, carried out on behalf of Hertfordshire County Council, will begin on the Napsbury Lane bridge, which crosses the A414 between Park Street roundabout and London Colney roundabout, in late July.

Preparation work will start on Saturday 25 July with a full night-time closure of both east and westbound carriageways (20.00 to 5.00).

Starting from Sunday 26 July, there will be a 24 hour lane closure (lane 2) for 16 weeks on the A414 North Orbital in both directions (eastbound and westbound). There will also be road closures on Napsbury Lane (B5378) for part of this period. This is because of essential repairs to the Napsbury Lane bridge to address corrosion, which impacts the integrity of the bridge’s structure.

Conservative-led Hertfordshire County Council have confirmed that the appalling state of our roads is set to get significantly worse.

The Finance meeting of June 10^th were told that Herts Highways had overspent their budget last financial year by £1.16m (budget £14.9m, spend £16.1m), despite the continual decline in the state of our roads and footpaths that is obvious to road and footpath users across Hertfordshire.

Lib Dem opposition members proposed an amendment that stated the council would properly fund road maintenance.  The Conservatives all voted against. The Conservative Chairman then confirmed Highways would be expected to meet budget next year, meaning the service will have to massively cut costs. (more…)

Temporary Closing of A4147 Catherine Street, St Albans

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 A4147 Catherine Street, St Albans from its junction with Adelaide Street south eastwards to its junction with Drovers Way, a distance of approximately 90 metres, except for access.

The purpose of the Order is to enable gas maintenance works to take place.

The section of road will be closed between the hours of 8.00am and 6.00pm on Sunday 3 May 2015, when signs are in place. An alternative signed route will be provided for traffic whilst the road closure is in place.

The Liberal Democrats have demanded that failing county council contractor Ringway get a grip on the number of non-working street lights within six weeks – or be sacked.

Lib Dem Leader Stephen Giles-Medhurst, who proposed the motion critical of the county’s street lighting performance, said: ‘The levels of failure are now so high that members are spending more and more time dealing with lighting problems, having to apologise on behalf of the county council. It should not be like this.

‘Nor should we have to propose a full council motion to get action.

‘If Ringway have not fixed the problem within six weeks, the county council should be looking for a new provider.’

St Albans Lib Dem councillor Chris White was one of a number of councillors who highlighted key problems in his division: ‘A series of lights in Drover’s Way, central St Albans, have been out since December 2013 and I have just been given excuses or false reports.’

Sandy Walkington added: ‘There are numerous lights out on King Harry Lane in St Albans – one of the most heavily trafficked roads in the county. The contract says that Ringway has to keep 98% of lights working – but this is a county average, allowing Ringway to get away with poor performance.’

The motion was agreed unanimously.

Chris at county hall today has demanded that Eurovia be banned from receiving any further work from the county council.

Chris said: ‘They failed in Grosvenor Road, Burnham Road and Clifton Street – in each case not informing residents of works or changes to works nor indeed local councillors.

‘I was assured that they would not bother us again and so was astonished to see that they were given the Green Ring works in St Albans – which they proceeded to turn into a fiasco in Hatfield Road and Lemsford Road, again failing to inform me or local residents, or indeed arranging for temporary pedestrian facilities.’

Temporary Closing and Temporary Waiting Restrictions in Various Roads in St Albans, Sandridge, Bricket Wood, Redbourn and Harpenden (Extract)

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 the following lengths of roads, except for access and to prohibit all vehicles from waiting at any time on both sides of these lengths of roads whilst works are in progress:-

1. that length of B691 Stanhope Road, St Albans from its junction with Camp Road south westwards to its junction with B691 Grimston Road, a distance of approximately 276 metres.

5. that length of Market Place, St Albans from its junction with Spencer Street south westwards to its junction with A5183 High Street, a distance of approximately 168 metres.

6. that length of Upper Dagnall Street, St Albans from its junction with Market Place north westwards to its junction with Cross Street, a distance of approximately 60 metres.

14. that length of Paxton Road, St Albans from its junction with Watsons Walk south eastwards to its junction with Lower Paxton Road, a distance of approximately 160 metres.

15. that length of Lower Paxton Road, St Albans from its junction with Paxton Road north eastwards and south westwards for its entire length.

The purpose of the Order is to enable highway maintenance works to take place.

The sections of roads will each be closed and the temporary waiting restrictions will be in place for up to 7 days during the period 20 April 2015 and 20 October 2015, when signs are in place. Alternative signed routes will be provided for traffic whilst the road closures are in place.

Street light repairs across Hertfordshire are managed in a way that would make the Mad Hatter look organised.  Liberal Democrat County Councillors have been receiving emails stating that street lights would be repaired within 4 weeks when they knew full well that in a significant number of cases repairs had not been completed after 12 weeks or more.

After an email exchange between Lib Dem County Councillor Chris White (St Albans Central) and Herts County Council, it has become clear that the published 20 working day repair claims only applies to minor roads – and then not always.

For ‘classified roads’ (A, B and C roads), there is no time limit at all and Chris was told not to pursue any more street light failures with the council. (more…)

Note from county council contractors

ADVANCE NOTIFICATION OF CARRIAGEWAY RESURFACING WORKS

Carriageway works are due to commence on the A5183 High Street, St.Albans, between the junctions of Chequer Street (Peahen Junction) and Verulam Road. In order to create a safe working environment for the workforce and members of the public alike, the works will be completed using a 24 hr full road closure, with a fully signed diversion route. See details below for working times. The works are due to start on Tuesday 24th February and are programmed to take 2 whole days to complete, weather permitting.

These works form part of Hertfordshire County Councils on-going commitment to maintain and improve the road network in Hertfordshire. We will be replacing the existing worn out granite setts in the speed tables.

An item on the agenda of St Albans City and District Council’s Local Services Scrutiny Committee on 8 January was the performance of Hertfordshire County Council in maintaining the District’s highways.

The Committee decided it wanted to consider the matter following a presentation by the County Council’s Executive Member for Highways and Waste Management, Cllr Terry Douris, in September 2013.

The Committee was keen to follow up the recommendations agreed at the earlier meeting and receive updated information on the performance of the County Council’s main contractors.

Cllr Anthony Rowlands, Chair of the Council’s Local Services Scrutiny Committee, said: (more…)