GCC press release – Repair work for A40

Repair work for A40
Major resurfacing of the A40 at Northleach will start next week as part of Gloucestershire County Council’s Operation Road Rescue.

Highways gangs will start repairing a weather damaged section of the road, east of Northleach roundabout on Monday (8th February).

The £166,000 scheme involves resurfacing around 8,500m2 of road between the junctions for Northleach Village and Farmington. To minimise inconvenience to road users on this busy route, the works will be undertaken during off-peak hours between 9am and 4pm.   Whilst the works are taking place, a system of “convoy working” traffic management will be in operation.

Convoy working involves the use of traffic lights and a convoy vehicle, which traffic follow through the works at a maximum speed of 10mph. The work is essential and drivers are asked to be patient while it is carried out. Cllr Stan Waddington, cabinet member for environment, said: “This is an extremely busy road and to ensure it remains open and safe for use we have to carry out this essential work immediately.
“I appreciate that it will cause inconvenience, but we have tried to reduce the disruption by limiting convoy working to off-peak hours only.
“I would ask all motorists to be patient and use the signed diversions where possible.”

He added: “As part of our Operation Road Rescue campaign we have diverted 30% extra highways staff into dealing with repairs so we have 70 gangs out on the streets repairing the damage.
“Repairing the roads is a top priority for Gloucestershire County Council and I want to reassure people that we are doing everything possible to fix our roads.”

For more information and to view our pothole repair film visit www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/roadrescue.

Convoy working is used on narrower roads or where it is not possible to achieve the normal safety zone between the works and live traffic.
Gloucestershire County Council is repairing around 500 potholes every single day, compared to 150 a day last year.
Operation Road Rescue will take a three-pronged attack on repairs:
•    Worst first: For safety we are fixing the most dangerous potholes first, which may mean that some potholes in a street will be repaired while others are left until later. It is essential that we work like this to ensure the most dangerous defects are repaired as quickly as possible. We’re haven’t forgotten the less serious potholes – they will be repaired as soon as the major work is complete.
•    Patching: In some locations road surfaces have been severely damaged with dozens of potholes caused by the severe weather. Our safety inspection and area teams are prioritising areas where we will be carrying out larger patching works to repair these potholes.
•    Resurfacing: We’re also in the process of re-prioritising our current resurfacing programme to take into account the damage that has happened due to the recent ice and snow. There is obviously a limited pot of money for major schemes like these so it isn’t possible to resurface every single road in the county.
CONTACT
Issued by Gloucestershire County Council’s Media Team 01452 425226 .

Lisa Bonnell
Media & PR Officer
Gloucestershire County Council
Tel: 01452 425226 / 07805 540422
www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/pressoffice