Herts Highways Make Summer Repairs

14 August 2010, 06:00

There's no rest for Hertfordshire Highways.

A massive programme of maintenance works is underway as crews from Hertfordshire Highways take advantage of quieter roads during the summer holidays.

Stuart Pile is the Executive Member for Highways and Transport and has been telling Heart:

"We appreciate how important road maintenance is to Hertfordshire's residents and, with fewer cars on the road, this is the perfect time to get on with making repairs to our 3,000 miles of roads and 3,000 miles of pavements."

During the six weeks of the summer holidays, Hertfordshire Highways is working on 98 road resurfacing schemes, 18 pavement resurfacing schemes, 23 drainage repair schemes, repairs to three bridges, 18 lighting schemes, three signals schemes, six safety-related schemes, three cycling schemes and 13 highway improvement schemes (these include works such as traffic calming measures, junction improvements, pedestrian facilities and improved access to schools). On top of this, routine maintenance – such as filling potholes – continues as usual.

Stuart continued: "We're carrying out so many works during the holidays because this is the time of year when the roads are much quieter, so the inevitable disruption that roadworks cause affects fewer people. After the harsh winter we had, extensive repairs are required so that we're as ready as possible for whatever next winter throws at us.

"But it's not just about patching up roads and fixing street lights. We’re also very busy with grass cutting and cleaning work."

A full programme of bus shelter and gully cleaning is taking place throughout the summer, with 74 bus shelters, 165,000 road gullies, pipes and manholes being cleaned and cleared.

It takes a month to complete a full countywide grass cut, with a total of 12.75 million square metres of highway grass being cut by Hertfordshire Highways and district council colleagues.

Stuart concluded: “Nobody likes roadworks, but they’re necessary to improve the condition of our roads and keep people safe when travelling in Hertfordshire. The essential works we do can cause some disruption and delay, especially if road closures or diversions are necessary. Our highways staff will be doing everything possible to keep disruption to a minimum.

“If there are roadworks going on in your area, we ask all road users to take extra care and leave extra time for their journeys while the work is going on.”