I contacted the highways department at county hall this morning to ask them to confirm the status of the road surfacing works on the B1281 between Hesleden and Castle Eden which were scheduled to begin yesterday. This followed a last minute delay to the works programme yesterday morning.
I only found out about the delay myself when, on the off-chance, I asked the highways section for an update on progress, so I've also taken the opportunity this morning to raise concerns on behalf of our communities about the complete lack of communication from the council when the anticipated works were abruptly suspended yesterday morning.
From the many calls and messages I received last night it is clear that more anger and frustration was generated by the absence of information from the council than by the inconvenience caused by the delay itself. I share that frustration and I think our communities deserve to be treated with more courtesy and respect by the authorities.
I've reproduced below the response I received from the highways design team leader.
Good Morning Cllr. Crute,
I have just spoken with the surfacing contractor and our site supervisor and they have advised me that works commenced on site at approx. 7:15am this morning and we anticipate that we should complete the planing off of the existing carriageway/Inlay the new Binder course today, and inlay the new surface course tomorrow, so the road will be back open as of C of P tomorrow. With regards to the reinstatement of the road markings, these will be reinstated on Monday under local traffic management.
The reason for the works not commencing as per the programme yesterday was because of a plant breakdown. The planing machine broke down, which meant we were unable to commence yesterday. We apologise for any inconvenience that this may have caused, however we are trying to complete the works quicker, to try and minimise disruption to residents/members of the public.
If you require any further information, please do not hesitate in contacting me.
