Bishop’s Stortford motorists face Monday misery from road closures in South Street and Windhill
Motorists in Bishop’s Stortford are braced for Monday misery as two roads leading to the centre of town will be closed for the day – four days before most schools in town break up for half term.
A short stretch of South Street from its junction with Stort Road, near the Jolly Brewers pub, to National Tyres will be shut for up to three days – from 8am on Monday until 6pm on Wednesday (Oct 21-23) – for UK Power Networks to install a new electricity connection for a customer.
Further north along South Street, there will be temporary two-way lights at Swan Court, near the Station Road junction, for repair and maintenance work by Affinity Water on a long-standing leak.
Meanwhile, Windhill remains closed at its junction with King Street, by St Michael’s Church, for Affinity works which started on Thursday afternoon (Oct 17) and are due to be completed by the end of Monday.
For the South Street closure, traffic heading into Bishop’s Stortford from the south will be diverted via London Road to the Hockerill junction, down Hockerill Street and along Dane Street and Station Road to rejoin South Street.
On Wednesday the Indie contacted highways authority Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) to say that a number of businesses in Ducketts Wharf, off South Street, were both concerned and confused about the road closure as they had received no notification that access would not be possible – but the Causeway One Network road works website seemed to indicate that the closure would prevent access.
A spokesman for HCC told the Indie the next day: “Hertfordshire Highways are working closely with UK Power Networks and have agreed that a three-day road closure was needed for safety reasons.
“Pedestrian access will be maintained for businesses, who were notified in advance, and we apologise if anyone has not received the communications UKPN issued about the installation.”
Richard Gilkes, chief executive of the Stort Group at Ducketts Wharf, told the county council and UK Power Networks on Thursday evening: “I can categorically state that none of the businesses in Ducketts Wharf I have spoken to, nor Kwik Fit and National Tyres either side, have received any correspondence regarding having no vehicular access to our company premises.
“This will affect all the businesses who rely on staff arriving in private vehicles. Not everyone will have the option of public transport, walking or a lift, particularly at such short notice, and [this] will cause serious disruption.
“Can you please clarify exactly when access will be denied to our premises during the work and what measures have been taken to minimise this time? Also, please explain how and why no communication has been received.”
On Friday, HCC told the Indie: “UK Power Networks have advised that [vehicle] access to Ducketts Wharf will be maintained whilst the road closure is in force.
“Traffic will need to access Ducketts Wharf from the northern [town centre] side of the closure whilst traffic travelling from the south side of the closure will need to follow the signed diversion.”
An Arriva bus driver messaged the Indie to say the South Street closure will cause “carnage” and branded it an “utter joke”.
Passengers wishing to get to Stansted Airport will have to walk to the junction of Thorley Hill and London Road, or to Riverside to catch a 508, 509 or 510. Those travelling towards Harlow will need to walk to the bus interchange at Bishop’s Stortford railway station.
The bus driver said: “The passengers will be unaware of this and as usual the drivers and company will get moaned at due to the buses not running on time.
“Why shut this small bit of a main road – can’t they use traffic lights like they normally do?”