When things are working properly, engineering, politics or organisations, you can enjoy the results for years.
But when they aren’t, they attract attention. Plenty of it, and none welcome.
Sutton Seeds – Round about
Early October saw Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) setting up road works and traffic lights at the A4 Suttons Seeds roundabout, so that they could dig up the road and lay new cables.
The inbound traffic jam spread until the standstill was past Sonning Lane.
The first morning, BBC Radio Berkshire’s morning presenter was late for his own radio show, so on behalf of motorists, he took up the cause on-air with SSEN.
As traffic had flowed more freely when they’d failed, he asked why traffic lights were needed. As well as passing off responsibility to WBC, SSEN went and made things even worse.
When WBC’s Exec. member for Highways was interviewed, we learned of the Council’s statutory obligation to let SSEN dig up the road, also that proposed mitigations hadn’t worked.
Vastern Road – Reading Bridge
This week, SSEN put in another set of roadworks over by Reading Bridge. Jams over the weekend were bad, but on Monday morning were truly awful, so BBC Radio Berkshire invited SSEN to explain themselves. Again.
You’d have thought they would have learned – and indeed they had.
Instead of the usual mantras of Workforce Safety; Apologise; then Blame the Council; this time SSEN “thanked motorists for their patience”.
On Tuesday morning, the Reading Borough Council interviewee said that they’d managed to get together with SSEN on Monday to significantly reduce the roadworks.
But the council man couldn’t explain why this wasn’t done originally, so he offered up the ‘statutory powers’ excuse. Asked why the problem wasn’t sorted out over the weekend – as we were now living in a 24/7 society – his reply was that “it had to wait until normal working hours on Monday”.
California Cross – Roads blocked
But it’s not just the power company who’s got things badly wrong.
Earlier this Summer, South East Water started replacing the water main in Finchampstead which led to the road between California Crossroads and the pedestrian crossing just past the Ratepayers Hall being shut for six weeks.
You could follow the diversion signs and spend ten to twenty minutes in the jam at the roundabout by the Ford garage. Or you could bypass the jam via a housing estate and go along Nine Mile Ride. At least until someone put up some “No Through Road” signs either end.
After five weeks of having to find progressively more circuitous routes, I went to discover what had caused the road closure. Once the gentleman was assured that I wasn’t “having a laugh”, he explained that it was for pipes and fittings to be delivered and stored safely on the road while it was being dug up.
With only 100 yards of trench down one side of the road and a single one across it, I confessed to not understanding why a six-week closure was necessary. This met with a retort, followed by further explanation about the safety of the deliveries and the workforce. Undeterred, I asked why the pipes weren’t stored in the blocked-off car park of the Ratepayers’ Hall – instead of on the road.
He told me that the closure was authorised by WBC and that the new water main was needed for the future, before telling me the good news that the closure was ending a week early – that very day.
As local residents had already warned me that contractors only turned up after 9am and all went home before 4pm (no weekend working), his ‘week early’ comment sounded utterly hollow.
By now, I felt that the road closure had been for the contractor’s convenience and that the new pipes were only needed for Gorse Ride regeneration and Arborfield’s new housing SDL.
It seemed immaterial that hundreds of tax-paying residents had had their time, petrol, patience or peace wasted every day for five weeks – particularly when better management could have reduced this closure to a few days.
Closer to Home
Back when the Winnersh Relief Road was being constructed, King Street Lane had to be closed one weekend when the local firm doing the work, Hope and Clay, was joining the roads up. Particularly as KSL had some very deep holes in it at the time.
However, some people felt that it should be open, therefore they moved all the road closed signs and barriers out of the way then drove through. A fellow resident called me on Saturday evening to tell me what was happening, so I called Managing Director James Hope to ask what we could do.
Expecting to get permission to move the barriers back into place, or that he’d send someone over, I was astonished when he said he’d drive across personally. He duly did, so together we “manned the barricades” back into place in the pouring rain.
The Last Word
Naturally, stepping in to solve problems like that is anathema to the ‘jobsworths’ of this world.
But we’re paying good money to our Councils and Utility companies for clear thinking and good management.
However, with ‘Utility Roadworks’ like those above, Wokingham remains a ‘target rich’ environment.
“Plus ça change” as Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr would say.
