It’s day one of the 20-week roadworks taking place on Blake Hall Road – though a collapsed water pipe on the road on Saturday led to the road being closed prematurely (and thus to much traffic chaos throughout Wanstead).
Work is due to start today on the replacement of the gas mains. Details from National Grid are below, and the Twitter account @blakehellroad will be doing its best to keep spirits, civility and accountability high in the coming weeks.
Share your pictures and updates with it, and we’ll feature some of them here – also from today you can see a dedicated Twitter box featuring all tweets with the #blakehellroad hashtag.
National Grid provided this summary of the work:
• Essential work to maintain safe and reliable gas supplies due to resume on Monday 20 June 2016 for 20 weeks
• Project programme carefully designed to delivered with as smoothly as possible
• Traffic management will be required but local businesses and shops will remain open as normal throughout work
National Grid is preparing to resume work to replace ageing gas mains in Blake Hall Road, Wanstead with tough new pipes.
The work, which also involves replacing service pipes to some properties, is scheduled to start on Monday 20 June and is planned to be completed in approximately 20 weeks.
The project will help ensure local people continue to enjoy safe and reliable gas supplies for cooking and heating.
Traffic management including the road closures outlined below, will be needed to ensure engineers can carry out the work safely and efficiently. However access to properties will be maintained and shops and businesses will remain open for business as normal.
- Overton Road will be closed at the junction of Blake Hall Road for approximately eight weeks from the beginning of August. Width restrictions will be removed to ensure access is maintained to properties.
- Tennyson Road will be closed for approximately three weeks in October.
- Felstead Road will be closed for approximately three weeks from late October.
Project Engineer Paul Illingworth said: “This essential project will help make sure the local community continue to enjoy safe and reliable gas supplies for cooking and heating.
“We’ve planned the work in close discussion with Redbridge Council and others including TfL and the police to ensure it’s delivered as smoothly as possible.â€
He added: “To minimise be traffic disruption we’ll be inserting the new pipes into the old mains wherever possible which reduces the need for digging.
“We’ve also planned our work at the busy Overton Road junction for the school summer holidays when roads are generally quieter.â€
All engineers working for National Grid carry official identification and people should ask to see this before letting them into their property. To verify the identity of an engineer or for more information about the work call 0800 096 5678.
More information can also be found at www.bettergaspipes.co.uk
I blame the squatters!
In their wisdom, the council are also digging up Romford road at the same time, thereby giving us no chance of getting out of aldersbrook, so I would disregard any comment about close discussions with police and council
It looks like they didn’t even consult a map judging by the references to Overton Road
It really inspires confidence in their planning when they don’t even know the correct name of one of the roads they are closing!
I don’t think they’ve made it publicised enough or put up enough pre-warning signs in the area — there should be signs up on Cambridge Park warning of the work (there was last time) just to give traffic there the choice to NOT turn into Blake Hall Road and meet with misery.
Instead, no signs at all informing of the work, and that end of Blake Hall Road today was jam packed with confused looking drivers at a stand-still. SIGNS, please, at the top and bottom and at all junctions that lead into BHR. Give drivers who haven’t heard about the works the opportunity to take another route, or at least the warning of what they’re entering so that they’re not honking their horns not knowing what’s going on further down.
I still also believe it’s a disaster to plan to remove the width restrictions on Overton Drive. They slow down driver who otherwise would tear through the junction by St Mary’s at a speed enough to not give cyclists and pedestrians a chance on this tricky junction, one corner of which is a blind spot. Accident waiting to happen.
Day one and we thought we would just give Blackhall Road a try .It was fine getting to Wanstead but coming back to Aldersbroook was the problem .At the junction of Overton drive and Blakehall road other drivers seem to think it’s okay to block the road which then causes a standstill from the other approaching roads .Why don’t the police put a community officer at this junction during rush hour times this may stop inconsiderate drivers .Also while waiting at Overton Drive lights to turn left why do other drivers come speeding up on the outside lane and cut in front of everyone else who have been waiting patiently to turn. Grrrrrrr
No traffic control at Bush Road/Overton Drive/Blake Hall. Too many cars get through green lights stopping flow to the right from Bysh Road. Why can’t National Grid work these things out for themselves before the problems start??
So it’s starting to emerge that it’s not the works themselves that’s the problem but a large enough percentage of entitled motorists. Who’d have thought it…..