Stuck in the Middle with you: Roadworks and Traffic Congestion in Walthamstow

Like many local residents I'm increasingly frustrated at the continual roadworks we have in the Waltham Forest area so I've been trying to find out what action is being taken by Environmental Services to co-ordinate these activities. Furthermore, many of you may have seen the problems caused last week in Walthamstow when a water main burst in Tottenham causing the closure of Forest Road. I've now received the following in-depth response back from Environmental Services that I wanted to share in full:

"Thank you for your email, the problems experienced on Sunday and Monday of this week was, as you say, as the result of a burst water main resulting in the closure of Forest Road. The burst itself was outside the borough in Broad Lane, Haringay, and was notified to our call centre, Waltham Forest Direct, on Sunday evening. Once we had received this notification our highways standby officer was called out to assess the situation. He escalated the call to the LBWF Traffic Manager who liaised with the Transport for London Traffic Control Centre (LTCC) and the Police during Sunday evening until the reopening of Broad Lane late on Monday afternoon. The traffic management of the incident was controlled by the Police with the full co-operation with the borough. Information of the likely impacts and duration of the emergency was disseminated on TfL traffic control website, to the general media, and through our own call centre. Calls were made on Sunday night to the Thames Water project manager for the works sites in Blackhorse Road and Blackhorse Lane to see if the existing traffic signals could be removed or the impact minimized. Unfortunately this was not possible and the signals remained in operation during the incident. While the repairs to the water main and the damage carriageway are continuing the re-opening of Broad Lane on Monday evening has relieved the severity of the impact on borough roads.

With regards to your query concerning the general works in the High Street area, I think it is probably worth detailing the types of works that we currently have. The bulk of major works are being undertaken by the gas and water utility companies who have differing operating policies.

The gas have been directed by the HSE to replace all metallic mains within 30 metres of a property within a 30 year period. These works are prioritised on a worst first basis, with the prioritisation varying as more bursts occur on a length of main. With this process if there are more than one main in a street it maybe that only one main meets the criteria in this financial year resulting in the need to revisit site again. We have pushed strongly for this policy to be flexible and have achieved success however we are unable to dictate the long term programme of utility companies and repeat visits cannot be eliminated.

The bulk of the water main replacement works are being undertaken under the project name of Victorian Mains Renewal. Under this project a discrete zone is identified for renewal and all pipes within that zone are replaced. With this approach the presence of the utility company within an area can appear extensive but the up side being that as all pipes have been replaced future problems should be minimal.

In the High Street area we currently have both of the above work types in progress.

Not only in the High Street area but for works throughout the borough we hold a number of regular co-ordination meetings. These range from quarterly meetings attended by all the utility companies operating in the borough and other interested parties such a the Buses, Police and Railtrack where each party shares their plans for works and opportunities for joint working explored. We also hold monthly meetings with individual companies or combined meetings where companies are working in close proximity to each other.

All works applications are recorded on our computerised Streetworks management system, an extract of which we make available to the public on our website displaying current and future works. Access to the full register is be available via our Highways office.

Road closures are managed by our Traffic Team in conjunction with the Works Co-ordination team. All closures apart from emergency closures are published in Waltham Forest News prior to implementation giving details of roads effected, diversion routes and timings. Buses, Police and other emergency services are notified of closures and any recommendations made would be incorporated.

On certain roads and footways we have introduced specific working measures and restrictions. For example on the High Street we have a complete works embargo for the month of December and all routine works that can be completed within two days are scheduled for Sunday or Mondays, being the non or quite days for the market. Market management are also notified and involved on all significant works in this area. "

It may also be of interest to know that the Government is proposing to give local authorities the powers to increase the charges to make to utility companies for road works to ensure that they finish on time to try to cut the disruption planned roadworks cause. If you have views on these issues and how the council should use these powers in the future that you want to pass onto the local authority Environmental Services department please do get in touch.