Tackling drainage in Watery Lane

Watery Lane will be closed overnight from tomorrow night (20 March) for up to two nights. The closure will be between 8PM and 5AM, and the closure will be from Chaucer Business Park to the junction of Saxbys Road. This is for KCC to undertake drainage works to address the long-standing problems on the road. 

While there are a number of factors affecting Watery Lane, in particular the interaction between the Network Rail drainage system under the bridge and the Kent Highways drainage system, the works to be undertaken over the next couple of days will focus on the latter. There will be a thorough cleanse of all the gullies, catchpits and manholes and jet all the pipework in the Kent Highways system in that section of the road.

Once these works have been completed, and it is confirmed that they have been effective (our drainage engineer will review the works on completion) the Highways Operations team will be able to carry out the necessary repairs to the road surface; they have been unable to do so as long as the water is running.

Hopefully these works will provide some relief from the problems that have affected this section of road. I will post again when there are further updates on how the works have gone and when the road surface repairs can take place.

Park Lane works completed

The works and road closure in Park Lane Seal have been completed well ahead of schedule. 

The contractor had completed the works by late on Monday (the first day) and so the road was already open throughout yesterday - which is why there seemed to be no evidence of the closure by late afternoon. 

The original closure was scheduled for up to five days. Given the difficulty of alternative routes when Park Lane is closed, it is good that the contractor was able to allocate extra resource to the works and so minimise the disruption to residents and to the wider road network.

Park Lane Seal closure from Monday

The emergency closure of Park Lane Seal next week was announced yesterday. The closure, between the junctions with Blackhall Lane and Bichet Green Road, will start on Monday for up to five days (17-21 February). This is for essential safety works to trees on unregistered land that Kent Highways is undertaking under its statutory duty of care. Because of the width of the carriageway and the height of the trees the road has to be closed in full rather than a single lane.

The closure is permitted between 8am and 5pm for each day but may on occasion be shorter. The road will reopen when the contractors leave the site each evening. In addition, while the work is scheduled for five days, it is hoped to be less; significant contingency for bad weather, break downs and other delays is built in. 

Any closure on a road like Park Lane will be disruptive, but hopefully scheduling this in half term and delivering the works promptly will minimise this.

Pilgrims Way reopened

Pilgrims Way is now open, and the South East Water works are complete. 

The Traffic Management signs are still up, but the company which supplies them will be retrieving them shortly. Our Streetworks team has sought to get the utility to get these works completed ahead of the scheduled three days, and they are now done.

Pilgrims Way closure for South East Water works

Residents have raised the further closure on Pilgrims Way next week, coming shortly after last weekend’s works.

Pilgrims Way will be closed for three days commencing 14 February between the Row Dow junction and Beechy Leas Road. This is for works by South East Water to replace a leaking stop cock at a nearby property. The stop cock is at the edge of the carriageway in a narrow part of the road, so a closure is required for the works.   

 This is therefore a closure undertaken by the utility, for which they have statutory powers. It is not a KCC closure for highways works, though a planned closure of this kind is coordinated with KCC (as opposed to emergency closures, on which KCC is not required to be consulted in advance).

Our Streetworks team are working to reduce the disruption that this will cause by requiring that the road is closed only when work is taking place (this is possible for works of this kind because they do not require, for example, a period to set). At other times, the signage will be pulled in and the road opened, though at present there are no set times for this.

It is very disruptive for residents that this comes so soon after the closure in Pilgrims Way East, and that this comes after a number of other closures. In addition to the approach described above to try to reduce this impact on residents, the works are scheduled for the half term week for the same purpose.

It’s been asked why the two sets of works could not have been carried out at the same time. The reason is that, because they were at, in effect, opposite ends of Pilgrims Way East, residents living between them (including all those in Tudor Drive and Tudor Crescent) would have been unable to get out, except perhaps via Row Dow and routes beyond that, which would in most cases have been a vastly greater diversion than is required by either set of works on their own.

Pilgrims Way East: works at the weekend

Many residents will have seen from the signage up in Pilgrims Way East that there will be a further closure this weekend. The closure will be between the Tudor Drive junction and the A225 Shoreham Road, and will be from 7:30 am on Saturday 3 February until 11:59 pm on Sunday evening. 

The works are to address the deficiencies on the tabletop by the Tudor Drive junction, and the outcome should be something more like the tabletop at the Row Dow junction. This design also requires less time for the curing of the kerbs. 

The recommended diversion route is, as before, via Childsbridge Lane, the A25 and the A225 Sevenoaks Road and Station Road.

Speed limit lowered on the A25

A somewhat belated good news story. Last week (12 December) the Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) for the reduction of speed limit on the A25 Seal Road from 40mph to 30mph was implemented. 

The section of the road where the limit was 40mph stretched from within Sevenoaks Town (and the County Division of my neighbouring County Councillor, Richard Streatfeild) into Seal Parish (and my Division). This created an anomaly in the middle of an area that is otherwise 30mph all,the way through and added to the sense of insecurity among pedestrians, including children going to school (or walking with their parents). 

It has taken quite some time to get here; the issue has been raised with me by residents over a number of years. Initially it was thought that Kent Police and Kent Highways would not agree to support it, though we later secured a change of view on this. Part of the argument for caution was that, with the change of limit, there are no longer repeater signs on this stretch of road (because under the Highway Code the presence of streetlights is taken as the indication of a 30mph limit). Nonetheless, the TRO was agreed at last December’s Joint Transportation Board. The scheme was taken on by Kent Highways’ Design and Delivery team in the summer, and handed over to contractors on 1 November. 

This is, I hope, a welcome step forward for residents of both Sevenoaks and Seal.

Weekend closure at Pilgrims Way East

The signs for this weekend’s closure of Pilgrims Way East have been up for some days. The closure is for works both to reset the loose and damaged kerbs on the raised table near the Row Dow junction and to reset its height. 

The closure will be from 8am on Saturday morning (25 November) until 6pm on Sunday. The later stages of the closure will be to allow time for the materials to cure before the road reopens.

Further closure on Pilgrims Way East

As is quite widely known, there will be a further road closure in Pilgrims Way East over the weekend of 25 and 26 November.

The initial reason for this was for further works on the speed table near the Row Dow junction to address the drainage kerb that has come loose along with resetting some other kerbs. In addition, the issue of the height of this speed table remain to be addressed and this is being taken up by Kent Highways officers with the main contractor and sub-contractor. 

These works do not affect the speed table near the Tudor Drive junction, and the closure will take effect between the Tudor Drive and Row Dow junctions. The Road Closed signs (indicating Access Only) will go up at the PWE/ Shoreham Road junction; however, residents of Tudor Drive and Tudor Crescent, as well as of properties in the affected section of PWE will have access from the Shoreham Road junction with Pilgrims Way East. 

Given the amount of disruption residents in and around Pilgrims Way East have had over recent months, it is important that these works are concluded effectively. Having spoken with Kent Highways officers, I know that they are very much aware of this and are meeting with contractors to ensure this is delivered.

I will update again as soon as I have further details.

Pilgrims Way East half term closure

Many residents will already be aware of next week’s further closure of Pilgrims Way East. 

The road will be closed from 23rd October for four days between the A225 and Row Dow.

This will be a full (24/7) closure.This is unrelated to the other recent closures and is to allow SGN to carry out works on their services. Our Streetworks team attempted to get these works carried out at the same time as the table tops were being installed, but SGN was not ready to deliver those works at that time.The works have therefore been delayed until half term week to avoid any impact on school journeys.

The closure is a full one, because PWE is a narrow road and there is no scope to carry out the works while traffic can pass safely.

Regrettably, this does mean further significant disruption to residents who have had a lot to put up with in recent months - but is within the utility’s powers as a statutory undertaker.

The utility has not provided advanced warning signs to residents as it should have. KCC officers visited the site yesterday to check this out, and have issued a fixed penalty notice as well as challenging as to whether or not a letter drop has been completed.

There has to be access for residents, given the length of closure and the number of people affected, but at certain points one way in will have to be closed as the works take place.

Quite separately, there has been an emergency closure starting today (in these cases, KCC is often informed only after the works have started) on Pilgrims Way between Cotmans Ash Lane  and Heaverham Road. This is for works by South East Water, and could last for up to four days - KCC officers are seeking to get this accelerated.

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.

Childsbridge Lane works: latest

A further update on the Childsbridge Lane works. It was intended to finish them today. However, a JCB was apparently stolen from the site, delaying the start of works and so they are not yet complete.

There will be no works - and the road will be open - tomorrow, because the crew are scheduled (in line with the original plan) to be working elsewhere. There will therefore be a further closure on Thursday and Friday (it is not yet clear whether the whole day will be needed on Friday, but it seems highly likely that not everything can be completed on Thursday). The hours of closure should be as before, 0900 to 1630.

That’s the picture as I had it from Kent Highways officers a little earlier this afternoon; if this changes at all I will post again.

Childsbridge Lane closure for road patching

KCC will be carrying out carriageway patching (road repairs) in Childsbridge Lane, resulting in a road closure. 

The road will be closed from Friday 25 August for up to four days, excluding the weekend. The closure will run from School Lane to the railway bridge, and the official diversion route is via A25 High Street in Seal, A225, Pilgrims Way East/ Pilgrims Way and into Childsbridge Lane (or vice versa if coming from Kemsing or any point north of the closure). 

Kemsing and Seal closures

I will post about things other than road closures, but there are a couple of developments following on from my previous post.

The first is that there will be overnight (2000 to 0500) closure of Childsbridge Lane outside Redcot, starting tomorrow (23 May) for up to 2 days. This is for Kent Highways to carry out highway patching.

Secondly, the nighttime closure at Noah's Ark (for works to the M26 bridge by National Highways), originally scheduled for 6 to 8 June, has now been rescheduled for 16 to 20 June between 2200 and 0500.

JTB approves Shoreham and Seal schemes

Tonight's Sevenoaks Joint Transportation Board (JTB), which brings together County and District Councillors, considered the proposal to reduce the speed limit on the A225 between Eynsford and Otford to 50mph in its more northerly section and to 40mph from just north of the junction with Station Road Shoreham.

The proposal, which has long been championed by Shoreham Parish Council and which I have supported, was consulted on between 16 September and 10 October. Of 113 responses, 82 were in favour of the proposal, 31 were objections (of which 6 were held to be valid objections on traffic management grounds). The issue was therefore considered at the JTB and the Board supported it. Both Brian Jeffery from Shoreham Parish Council and I spoke in favour.

The JTB also considered the proposed reduction in the speed limit on the A25 Seal Road entering Seal from the west. This was incorporated in a Traffic Regulation Order which related largely to 20mph proposals in Sevenoaks Town, but the JTB agreed to consider the A25 issue separately from a much longer debate on the Sevenoaks Town item. The Seal Road speed limit reduction was quickly approved, recognising the anomalous nature of the stretch of 40mph road between two 30mph zones.

Childsbridge Lane speed limit reduction approved

At Wednesday’s meeting of the Sevenoaks Joint Transportation Board (JTB), the Board reviewed the proposed reduction in the speed limit on Childsbridge Lane between Kemsing and Seal from National Speed Limit (60 mph) to 40 mph. This proposal had been at the head of Seal Parish Council’s Highways Improvement Plan (HIP). Its aim is to reduce speeds near the entry points to the villages, and especially the approach to the railway bridge near Seal.

Since there were a number of objections to the proposal, the JTB had to consider it and decide whether to proceed. Both the chairman of Seal Parish Council and I spoke in favour of the speed limit reduction. I sought to address the concern, which was expressed by a number of the objectors, that this would be a substitute or diversion from the need to create a secure path for pedestrians on the bridge.

This has been a significant concern for residents and one that I support. However, neither the parish council nor I see the proposed speed limit reduction as a diversion from addressing the issue. The biggest problem so far has been one of visibility on the approaches to the bridge, which has vitiated efforts to create a priority system needed to narrow the road and give the space necessary for a secure pedestrian path. This is a difficult issue, and one that we continue to work to address, but quite separate from that of the speed limit. The intention of the reduction is to improve safety but this does not preclude other actions on the bridge when they can be delivered.

The JTB approved the proposed speed limit reduction and it can now be implemented.

School Lane works delayed again (again)

I posted recently that the Thames Water works planned for School Lane Seal for 5 August had been delayed by a fortnight. That would have been today (19 August); however, the works have been delayed once more. I understand that this is because of sink holes and other emergency works which have had to be addressed elsewhere and so the works have been rather suddenly postponed. It is likely that, since a ten day closure is required for these works, the delay will be a long one, until at least next year's Easter holidays.

School Lane closure delayed

The road closure in School Lane in Seal planned to start tomorrow (5 August) has been delayed for a fortnight. The ten day road closure will now start on 19 August. 

The closure (outside 1-3 The Green) is for Thames Water to deal with a collapsed sewer some three and a half metres under the road surface and to install an inspection cover in the road.  Given the lengthy detour required by the alternative route (A25/ A225/ Pilgrims Way East/ Childsbridge Lane) KCC Streetworks requested extended working hours and weekends to complete the works as quickly as possible. I understand that the delay to the works is because resources were not available to deliver on these extended hours at this time.

Childsbridge Lane closure

Residents will have seen that there was a brief closure of Childsbridge Lane late last week to address a sink hole under the tarmac close to a drain cover near the junction with Church Street. That closure was abandoned to enable traffic to flow on the Friday morning, but the works still need to take place. Given the narrowness of the road, and the need for the team to work safely, closure is unfortunately needed.

Childsbridge Lane will therefore be closed between School Lane and Church Street for up to two days starting this Thursday (21 July) from 9am to 3pm each day. The recommended diversion route is via High Street, Seal Road, the A225, Pilgrims Way East/ Pilgrims Way and vice versa. Go Coach and Seal Primary School have already been made aware of this.

Forthcoming road closures in Kemsing, Otford and Seal

Notice of some road closures coming up in the school holidays.

Pilgrims Way Kemsing will be closed starting on 25 July. This is for South East Water to replace a defective fire hydrant. The closure has been planned for five days but hopefully will be less; if it is a simple fix, it should take only two or three days. The proposed alternative route is via Pilgrims Way East, A225, A25, Childsbridge Lane and vice versa.

 Station Road Otford is set to be closed for three days starting 30 July. This is for UK Power Networks to establish connections to a new house, coordinating both gas and electricity. A road closure is required as the electrical connection is on the opposite side of the road and the road width is too narrow to complete this safely under two way lights. SGN’s connection is on the same side as the house but in the footpath and carriageway.  

This is of course quite a disruptive closure, and so the aim is to carry out most of the works over the weekend; the road will be closed early on Saturday morning and will remain shut until late Sunday evening. If the works are not completed by that stage, then two way lights will be set up and the work completed on the Monday.  The original application was for this to be a five day closure, but KCC Streetworks have negotiated this quicker approach. 

 Finally, School Lane in Seal will be closed (outside 1-3 The Green) for ten days starting 5 August. Access will be maintained for the library only. The suggested diversion route is quite similar to that for Pilgrims Way. This is for Thames Water to deal a collapsed sewer some three and a half metres under the road surface and to install an inspection cover in the road.  KCC Streetworks have requested extended working hours and weekends to complete the works as quickly as possible.