Motorists are being urged to follow an official diversion route when work to replace a water main in Upper Street, Leeds, begins on Monday 24 July.
Fresh drinking water supplier, South East Water will be replacing a 535 metre section of burst-prone water main with a new, wider pipe. The work will require the closure of Upper Street to through traffic for six months. There will be no through route between the A20 and the A274 Sutton Road via Leeds, however access to the village will be maintained for residents and businesses. Traffic heading for Leeds Castle and The George Inn, both of which will be open as usual, will need to travel in via the A20. A diversion route is in place and will be signed for the duration.
Jeremy Dufour, Project Manager for South East Water, said: “Road closures are always a last resort, but this is required to ensure the safety of the public and our workforce. We urge all traffic in the area to use the official diversion route. Several meetings with residents and businesses in the area made it clear that when Upper Street is closed, the surrounding roads become blocked with congested traffic. As a result, we have worked with Kent County Council to limit the impact.
“This will mean that we will also be closing a number of narrow lanes in the area to prevent congestion building up. There are limited spaces to turn around or pass oncoming traffic in these lanes, and so the quickest and safest route between the A20 and Sutton Road is via the diversion along Willington Street.”
The work forms part of South East Water’s commitment to invest more than £489 million into the water supply infrastructure between 2020 and 2025.
The project to improve the water supply to Leeds started last year with phase one of the project, which saw the water supply company install a secondary pipeline in private land adjacent to Upper Street.
Jeremy explained: “The second part of this project is vital in allowing us to increase the flow of water into Leeds. The current water main causes frequent disruption each time it needs to be repaired, and so by replacing this section, we’ll be reducing inconvenience to the community in the long term.
“In addition, the new pipe will be wider, so along with the secondary pipework laid last year, we’ll be able to increase the volume of water being fed to the area. This is vital in protecting tap water supplies as the community grows.”
The community can keep up to date with the work at southeastwater.co.uk/leeds
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