As you may have noticed, the roadworks in the village continue but the end is in sight!

Although originally planned for half-term, the work on Pound Corner will now take place on 23^rd/24^th June. This will be carried out under a three-way traffic light system.

Work on the culvert under the road by Quarrybrook is progressing and should be finished shortly. The agents have, at the Parish Council’s request, filled in the large pot hole at the lights as well.

Councillor Thunder has also flagged a number of issues with the agents at the request of individual residents. These include issues about reinstatement and the repair of a fence.

The good news is that the last tasks are planned to take place on 26th & 27th June.

We are continuing to work closely with the contractors to try to reduce the impact on residents where possible.

Following queries from residents, the PC have met with the agent responsible for the roadworks within the village to address current issues and discuss their plans for the next stage. The discussions have been productive and the Parish Council will be working closely with the agents to reduce the impact on residents as much as is possible.

• In order to avoid excessive congestion at Pound corner, as far as possible, the contractors have agree to do this work during the school holiday period commencing Monday 28th May to Friday 1st June. A three way traffic light system will be put in place to control the single lane traffic.
• There were plans to close the Highworth road between Quarrybrook Close and Byron Court order to drill a cable tunnel under the culvert carrying South Marston brook. The contractor has agreed to alter this plan and retain a single lane traffic light controlled road. This is currently in operation at 17th May.
• Old Vicarage Lane is due to be closed in order to allow trance digging and cable installation under the railway tunnel. This is scheduled for Monday 21st June to Tuesday 5th June. This is the worse case scenario so may be open before this date.
• Any future road closures will be limited to one road, at any one time.
• Ongoing work includes: pulling the high voltage cable into sections of the previously laid cable pipe in the trench and then jointing each section of the cable; covering all the trench sites dug in the grass verges with top soil and grass seed;  repairing all sections of the red rumble road sections and any similar sections of the marked walking area around Pound corner. At this time we do not have an end date for this work.

We thank all the residents for their patience whilst the work is going on. We will continue to speak regularly with the agents.

The agents delivering the cable installation work have confirmed the following:

Road closure: Old Vicarage Lane railway bridge

Access to the village via the bridge/A420/Old Vicarage Lane will be closed from around 8am on Monday 21st May to Tuesday 5th June 2018. Please note that this is worse case scenario and it may open earlier but this cannot be guaranteed.

Temporary traffic lights: Various locations

In addition to this, the workers will be excavating at points along the new cable route to pull and joint new cables. This work will involve two-way temporary traffic lights for a small section around the joint hole.

This will take place at:

• Old Vicarage Lane – Start: 08.05.18 Finish: 15.05.18
• Supermarine Road to Highworth Road – Start: 09.05.18 Finish: 16.05.18
• Highworth Road to end of Road Closure – Start: 10.05.18 Finish: 17.05.18
• Old Vicarage Lane – Start: 14.05.18 Finish: 21.05.18
• Highworth Road to end of Road Closure – Start: 16.05.18 Finish: 23.05.18
• Supermarine Road to Highworth Road – Start: 18.05.18 Finish: 25.05.18

We have asked the agent managing the work to restrict work outside school to half-term to avoid worsening traffic issues at school times. The agent will also be working to reduce the risk of HGV’s navigating Pound Corner to access Old Vicarage Lane.

We are aware of residents frustration with the ongoing roadworks as well as concerns about the damage and litter and the Parish Council are continuing to communicate with the agents.

Claire Penny, Parish Clerk