Pilgrims Way update

A further update on the Pilgrims Way closure. SGN staff worked to identify the gas leak yesterday evening, and then were due to finish the repair this morning, followed by backfilling the area of excavation. Reinstatement of the road surface will take place tomorrow morning (Saturday 30th) and, allowing some time for the reinstatement to settle, the road should be open by the end of the day. The permit to SGN has been amended accordingly with an end date of 30 September. Hopefully that should be the end of this significant disruption to residents.

Another closure: SGN on Pilgrims Way

 A quick note/ update on the closure in Pilgrims Way. 

This is an emergency closure by the utility (SGN) to address a gas escape. This is different from a scheduled closure: in these cases the utility (statutory undertaker) does not arrange the timing with KCC and has to inform us only within two hours of starting the closure. 

I contacted the relevant KCC officer, who asked SGN to work extended hours to reduce the duration of the road closure (booked as up to 8 days, but this is a maximum). The KCC area inspector attended this morning but by mid-afternoon SGN had not located the leak and so their investigation work was continuing. 

KCC have made clear the importance of these works being completed as soon as possible, and I should have an update tomorrow.

Tudor Drive works postponed

More detail to follow later, but the works on Tudor Drive (and associated road closure), scheduled to start tomorrow, are postponed. This is because work by the crew on another scheme has overrun. I will add more later when I have it but I thought important to get this out as quickly as possible.

Tudor Drive road works

 Residents of Tudor Drive (and Tudor Crescent) were concerned by the initial notice of a road closure of up to 5 days for Kent Highways to carry out pothole blitz/ carriageway patching works, in particular in relation to access. I have taken this up, and understand that a letter has been delivered to residents that hopefully addresses some of these concerns.

To summarise, the aim is now to have the works completed within three working days. On those days (Friday 29 September, Monday 2 October and Tuesday 3 October) the road will be closed for its full length between 0900 and 1700. The road should be open and accessible outside these hours and over the weekend. Officers have emphasised that every effort will be made to maintain access for residents, but that this may be difficult at times when (for example) hot material is being laid. Emergency vehicles are of course exempted from this. Officers have also emphasised that usually a situation can be worked round if residents speak to the gangs, and hopefully this can be accommodated practically while these much desired works take place.   

I have also followed up queries as to whether it would be possible to focus first on the area before the junction with Tudor Crescent, leaving that open once the works there are done. However, the large-scale patching that is being undertaken is (I am told) best and most efficiently done across the entire road. The advice I have from the highways engineers is that the quickest way to do the work is to plane out all of the patches first, which can normally can be completed in a matter of around 2-3 hours. The patching then starts shortly afterwards and will be completed using a paving machine usually reserved for resurfacing works. This approach – using quite large machinery and aiming to move as quickly as possible - means that it is not possible to do all of the patches at the top end and then move on to the bottom end of the road.

However, the aim is to get the works done as quickly as possible, hopefully well ahead of the 3 days indicated. Officers are also very aware of the need to secure maximum access and flexibility for Tudor Drive/ Tudor Crescent residents and our Highways Steward will be on site on Friday morning.

PWE: contact point for claims

With apologies for the delay (I had to double check something this morning), anyone wishing to make a claim relating to damage from the initial installation of the raised tables in Pilgrims Way East should send it to this email address:

activetravel@kent.gov.uk

In some earlier responses, I was working from advice that the claim should be sent to Amey; hopefully using this KCC address is a lot easier and more straightforward for any residents wishing to make a claim.

Addressing defects on PWE works

As many residents will know, works over the weekend on the Row Dow junction table top were defective with a severe gap at the top of the ramp. There was therefore a site meeting this morning between KCC and the contractor and subcontractor. There was an action for temporary tarmac to be installed in the afternoon to make it safe until the top of the ramp could be surfaced, although this was not apparent to me when I drove through it in the early evening. With a further closure organised, surfacing was due to take place tonight, and the road is now closed.

Hopefully- though experience makes us all cautious on this - the work should be carried out and the road reopened before the morning. The works on the Tudor Drive junction table top should be carried out this weekend as previously advised.

It shouldn’t be like this, and from KCC’s side, I can only apologise. We will of course be going through this with the contractors to establish what has gone so badly wrong. I also took up with officers earlier today the best route for residents who wish to make a complaint or have a claim in relation to damage to a car. This is being worked through and I will confirm when I have the full details.

My apologies too that this report comes late in the day; I was in long meetings with very poor Wi-Fi through much of today. 

Weekend works in Pilgrims Way East

Following on from yesterday’s post about Pilgrims Way East, permits to close the road have been raised and granted. This is for remedial works to ensure that the tables are now installed to KCC’s specification. This will involve two weekend road closures:

Saturday 16 - Sunday 17 September (ie the coming weekend) - closure between Tudor Drive and Row Dow - for the table near the junction with Row Dow to be treated

Saturday 23 - Sunday 24 September- closure between Shoreham Road and Tudor Drive - for the table near the junction with Tudor Drive to be treated

At these times, there will be no access for vehicles through the works site. The road will be closed overnight each Saturday but access to properties will be through the relevant diversion route.

Rye Lane works and the TW3

Rye Lane will be closed tomorrow (Friday 15 September) for Kent County Council to carry out tree surgery works. The closure will be from the Willow Park junction and is expected to run from 0930 to 1530.

Once these works are completed, it should enable the Go Coach TW3 to once more take in the west of Otford and Willow Park. KCC and Go Coach committed to this, subject to tree clearance, and it was not possible for the tree works to be undertaken before this Friday. At present the bus waits by Otford Pond until its departure time to head down the A225 towards Sevenoaks, but the full TW3 route should be in operation from Monday, 18 September. Go Coach state on their website that they aim to serve this area from the 18th and will confirm once the works are done and the safety of the route has been confirmed.

 

Pilgrims Way East: work on the ramps

An update on the table top ramps on Pilgrims Way East. As reported, KCC are working with the Principal Contractor to investigate the severity of the ramps and where necessary make alterations to reduce the ramp angle. Due to the urgency of the corrections, any works to the ramps will need to be undertaken at short notice during the next available weekend. At present KCC is awaiting availability from the Contractor, and will let residents know through road signage and through the Parish once this has been agreed. I will also post as soon as I know more.

In other words, it is not yet confirmed as to when these works will take place but there should be confirmation of this very shortly. Clearly given all that residents have already had to deal with on this, it makes sense to work at times (such as the weekend) that reduce the impact of further disruption; it’s also important that this is addressed as soon as possible. I will, as I say, update when I have more information.

RAAC: Kent’s story

A week ago, very few people were aware of Reticulated Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) - now after days of headlines about ‘crumbly concrete’ and its impact on schools and other public buildings, and the impact of school closures on families, it has dominated the news. But in Kent we have a very distinct experience.

RAAC started to develop as a national level issue after a ceiling collapse at Singlewell Primary School in Kent in July 2018 (very fortunately, it happened over a weekend). As a result, Kent County Council and schools within the county have been alive to the issue since then, and there have been both repair works and extensive surveys of schools with buildings constructed in the period when RAAC was most widely used (1930s to 1990s, and especially between 1950 and 1980). 

The issue surged in importance again earlier this summer, when - following a change in guidance from the Institute of Structural Engineers, action had to be taken at seven schools in Kent (Palmarsh Primary; St James CofE Primary, Tunbridge Wells; Sunnybank Primary, Sittingbourne; Godinton Primary, Ashford; St Bartholomew’s Catholic Primary, Swanley; Birchington CofE Primary; and King Ethelbert Secondary School in Thanet). In all but one case - where the academy trust worked directly with the Department for Education (DfE) - KCC officers worked closely with the schools to ensure that teaching and learning could continue (use of mobiles, marquees, other rooms within the school or a nearby school) and works were brought forward over the summer. 

And so, when another collapse (which now appears to have been in a school building last week somewhere else in the country) led the DfE to advise schools with RAAC to close the affected areas, the Kent schools were not on the list of partial or full closures.

The last 24 hours have seen some further uncertainty. It was not clear from letters received from the DfE whether the works undertaken in the summer (prior to the most recent incident and guidance) constituted adequate mitigation of risk. As a result, we took the difficult decision to prioritise safety (even if the risks were likely to be very low) and so to keep two schools where the works had been completed closed today (Palmarsh as a full closure, and St James’ as a partial closure). However, we today received full confirmation from the DfE that the mitigation was adequate and both schools will reopen tomorrow. We’re deeply sorry at the disruption that this has caused schools, children and families, but felt that under the circumstances we had to take a safety first approach.

This will remain a significant national issue for some time. For anyone interested in the background, there is a useful discussion in the National Audit Office’s report on school condition, published in June. You can find KCC’s media release on the issue here.

Over the weekend, reflecting Kent’s experience in this area, I was interviewed on the Today Programme , Times Radio and LBC.