Flooding on A312 Uxbridge Road

I know that the following is not in Feltham North but it will be of interest to some.  I know that Hanworth Park Councillors have lobbied hard to get something done about this ongoing problem.  West Area Committee Members received the following today:

“Following our attendance at the recent West Area Committee meeting, I am writing to advise on the outcome of our site meeting with TfL on the A312 Uxbridge Road.

This meeting (with Phil Hurst from TfL) took place on Friday 30 September and after some primary investigations, Thames Water has agreed to undertake the following.

   Complete a descale from No 56 through to No 154 (500 metres). Followingthe descale a CCTV will be carried out to look for any structuraldefects in the sewer. Although a CCTV was carried out by TfL the resultsof this further examination would be more accurate following the removal of any debris as it may be at present hiding any faults.
   Should any faults be shown up following this closer investigation Thames Water will move to rectify them.

During Friday’s investigations it was identified that certain sections of the highway will require resurfacing due to depressions which are causing ponding. The volume of water has been overloading the gullies and more gullies are required to allow the water to pass through.

With this in mind, following the works by Thames Water, TfL will resurface areas of the highway where depressions are compounding the drainage problem and drainage improvement work will be carried out to include additional gullies. Work by TfL will also be carried out to clear existing debris which are blocking the gullies.

What I have been unable to ascertain is exactly when Thames Water will be undertaking this work. I realise this is important as TfL will be unable to start any resurfacing work until our sewer is checked and any necessary repairs undertaken. However, I am confident this will be carried out in good time.”

Major water pollution incident at River Crane

Here is a Press Release issued by the Environment Agency today:

Environment Agency officers will continue working today on a major sewage pollution incident which has left thousands of fish dead in West London.

An estimated 3000 fish are now dead in the River Crane, a tributary of the River Thames, after raw sewage began to discharge into the river on Saturday.  Environment Agency officers have been working round the clock to try and minimise any further environmental damage,   taking water samples and assessing the impact on fish.

A silver command has been established to bring the situation under control as quickly as possible.

Environment Agency Area Manager Julia Simpson said: “This is a major incident and it appears that thousands of fish have been killed. Environment Agency officers have been working around the clock to minimise any further impact this incident has on the environment. We will be overseeing the clean up and have launched a full investigation.

“We advise people to keep themselves and their pets out of the water until the incident is resolved.”

Works in Faggs Road

Further to the previous thread, I have today received a response to the query I made about Faggs Road:

“National Grid Gas is renewing the mains in Faggs Road due to the winter gas demand pressures and Tfl as the highway authority for the road has been liaising with all the stakeholders to ensure that the works are carried out with minimum delays to the travelling public. The liaison with stake holders is important given the complications and delays associated with the recent gas leak further south.

The benefit of completing as much of the work as possible during the half term period was a key factor in the closure of the bus lane (in lane 1) during inter-peak hours.

The contractors are expected to work off peak from 09.30 to 15.30 and return the bus lane to normal use during the peak period. We are not certain that Tfl have cameras in the vicinity to ensure that the contractor will return the road to normal use by 3.30pm each weekday. As a result, the Tfl inspector will monitor the site.

The works are in 3 phases:

Phase 1 has been completed

Phase 2 – is the current ongoing Works in the footway on the Bridge, requiring a closure of the bus lane (lane 1) during inter-peak hours.

Phase 3 – Works in the Carriageway between the bridge and Staines Road, this may require a closure of lane 1 over night. These works have not commenced yet. Phase 3 night works will not occur every night, but TfL will expect some evening works to be carried out to expedite the works.

The contractor has informed Tfl that the residents and the businesses in the area have been notified of the works and that it will take 3 weeks to complete.

To conclude, Tfl, National Grid and the Council will have to ensure in the future that courtesy boards with the appropriate information about what is taking place on site, are sited in prominent locations. Also, ensure that the contractor will have workers on site during the agreed working period.”

 

I will post again if there is any update.

Latest on the Emergency Gas Works

I wrote the following to the relevant department at the Council this morning:

“1. I am receiving a number of complaints about work not taking place for a majority of the day e.g. workers gone by 4pm.  If true, this gives a terrible impression when the works are meant to be emergency.  I would like a briefing on what hours are being worked and why they cannot be longer in these circumstances?
2. I received a call this morning stating that all of the lights were red and this was causing chaos.  The person who called me had already contacted the police.  I also reported this on ext 2222 at around 08:12am this morning.  Please let me know what happened to that call and how quick the problem was resolved.  I would also like to know what caused it?”

I received the following prompt response this morning:

“We have had the following update from TFL in response to other complaints this week, which addresses some of your concerns, although not all.
 
I take your points below regarding the difficulty of putting diversions in place.  I can report that having had RTS ‘tweak’ some of the phase durations on site today traffic along Harlington road is flowing significantly better than it was yesterday.  A London buses representative was on site monitoring the flow this morning and afternoon and reported that the wait duration during peak time was down to 18 minutes from 45 which, although still very long, is a huge improvement.

We have now excavated around the leak entirely and temporarily stopped it.  The details for the special kit to be made have been passed to the company who are manufacturing the repair kit tomorrow and I have booked them for Thursday morning for its installation.  The kit utilises a fluid substance that requires 5-6 hours to solidify and this time must elapse before the hole is back filled.  I have agreed with our reinstaters that they will be on site at 4pm on Thursday to back fill the hole and we intend to tarmac it on Thursday night.  This would enable site to be cleared early on Friday morning.

Until the repair kit is fitted there is no work that we can do on site.  I appreciate that a vacant site is frustrating for members of the public but due to other ongoing work load I will not be able to maintain a site presence tomorrow.  A team will inspect the site, excavation and trench support at the start and end of their shift tomorrow as part of our normal procedures.”

This afternoon, I received the following:

“I understand you have received the information update from National Grid on Wednesday which explains why the operatives are not on site at all times. They are waiting for the specialist repair kit to be made. It is frustrating for the general public that they are experiencing huge delays and unfortunate that they are seeing the site is unmanned, in some circumstances the Utility has no option but to leave the site unmanned. It may have been useful for National Grid to display a courtesy board to explain exactly what is happening. I have responded to the complaints received this week to explain the circumstances and the majority of people who complained were happy with the information given but stated they did not see a courtesy board although the area inspector has been to site on a daily basis and confirms there are courtesy boards on display. 

Regarding the temporary lights failure this morning – The contractor notified the company – Road Traffic Solutions – as soon as they were aware of the failure. There was a fault on the temporary lights; apparently the lights will default to red until fixed and they were fixed at 10.55am.

National Grid is in contact with the area inspector and will inform him of any change to the proposed completion on 21.10.2011.”

When I complete, I will request that the Council, TfL & the National Grid determine some Learning Points for similiar situations in the future.

Emergency Works: Gas Escape on A312 Harlington Rd West

I have just received the following:

“we have been notified of a gas escape in the south-western arm of Hounslow Road at the junction with Harlington Road East/West – please see e-mail below. To undertake the necessary excavations and repairs, it is necessary to close off a section of the south-western carriageway of Hounslow Road immediately south-west of the junction. Four way temporary traffic lights will be introduced at the junction so that each arm of the junction will have its own traffic signal phase to facilitate one-way shuttle working past the closed section of road.  The works could not be delayed until the half-term holiday and will inevitably cause serious delays at this busy junction.
 
The works are currently scheduled to take five days but I will advise you of any change to this programme that may arise as the works proceed.”

I will suggest that this be posted on the Council’s website.

Disposal of Ex Feltham Community Association Building

This has been debated in the past mainly the plans with which I was strongly and enthusiastically associated to relocate the Skills Centre.  Here is a delegated authority published last week.

Section 2.4 of the report says:

“External consultants were then appointed to examine the future options for the site prior to disposal. They have suggested that the site is suitable for mixed use, residential or commercial development.”

More flats?