Many residents have commented to us despairingly about the London Rd roadworks. They have taken much longer than was anticipated and have been far from well-managed. And I’m afraid, from what we’ve just learnt, things are going to get worse before they get any better.

You will have noticed that the road is going to be re-surfaced (at long last). The works to do that are to occur at the beginning of May with a night-time speed restriction of 10mph. At the same time, a letter sent from the County announces that there is going to be a temporary road closure ‘to the junctions of London Road with Sandfield Road, Latimer Road and Lime Walk. This will operate for 24 hours from 5 May 2009 and the estimated duration of the works is 5 days.’

This sounds to us as a potential recipe for chaos. We have contacted the County questioning whether a week with no exit from either side of London Road between Headley Way and Osler Road is really essential. We have also asked for reassurance that all residents will be fully informed about what is happening. I would hope that that would happen as a matter of course, but as the County has not handled this at all well, I wouldn’t want to put any faith in that.

We will keep you informed as the situation develops.  It certainly seems to me that some hard questions need to be asked of the County Council about their handling of this whole scheme.