Thursday, 25 August 2022

Timeline for the Hardwicke Place housing development and roadworks on the B1281

Last weekend I published an article on these pages about works scheduled to be carried out to reinstate the footpath, embankment and verges opposite the Hardwicke Place housing development currently under construction just off the B1281. Please see the article below for background information:

Sunday 21 August 2022https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2022/08/development-company-to-reinstate.html 

When last Sunday’s article was published on social media I was contacted by a few local residents asking for an update on when the road surface on the B1281 would be completed. Consequently I asked the developer and the highways authority to confirm when works were scheduled to take place. I also asked for a timeline for completion of the housing development.

I’ve published the response below, which confirms that works to resurface the road at new roundabout on the B1281 are scheduled to take place from Monday 5 September 2022. There is also additional information from the developer about when the housing development is expected to be completed. 

Please note that a number of Road Safety Audits are scheduled to take place at regular intervals throughout the process set out in the timeline below. This will ensure that any issues arising from the new housing development and the new road layout will be fully addressed by the developer before the development is finally completed and signed-off:

Works to resurface the roundabout on Hesleden Road are scheduled from 5 to 7 September through a series of overnight closures with diversions in place.

This should mark the completion of major works, however, it is likely that further ‘snagging’ will [be] required to the civils and electrical elements (street lighting and lit signs) together with a Stage 3 Road Safety Audit which may also reveal matters requiring attention.

Once this is complete to our satisfaction we will issue a Certificate of Completion and the roundabout and associated infrastructure will be placed on a 12 month maintenance period and then, subject to a further inspection, adopted as publicly maintained highway.

Unfortunately the internal works are more subjective being mainly driven by market forces currently coupled with industry wide issues, post covid, regarding the cost and availability of both labour and materials.

Using a basic formula we can estimate the expected duration of the development in terms of property completion which, while not factoring the above, includes a contingency for site set up and completion of streetworks post final occupancy.

For this development this is considered to be 38 months after which a similar inspection regime and maintenance period, as described above, will be followed.

Based on this, it is anticipated that the development will be completed in late-summer 2024 with adoption of the highway infrastructure not before summer 2025.

However, in addition to factors noted above, this can be impacted by both local, e.g. extreme weather events, and wider issues.

I’ll update on developments on this matter as and when I receive additional information from the developer or the highways authority.

In the meantime the following articles give a broader background to issues around the housing development and associated highways works:

Tuesday 17 May 2022https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2022/05/update-on-traffic-issues-on-b1281-at.html

Wednesday 10 August 2022https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2022/08/concerns-about-increased-traffic.html