Today we spoke to Mark Sloan of Derbyshire County Council in relation to the public notice indicating possible closure of the B5056 up to March 2011, nearly a year longer than expected. Here is our summary of this phone conversation.
The County Council have not altered their plans or the timetable for repairs to the B5056, and it is currently intended that the road will be re-opened well before March 2011. However, the process for implementing road closures has cost options, not least the cost of advertising in newspapers. If work was to be delayed for any reason and they overshoot the planned closure by even a day, the County Council would have to initiate a new road closure notice and incur more costs. Further there are restrictions on how many times closure notices can be issued for an individual road.
Consequently, because there have already been previous closure notices on the B5056 and because of the unpredictability of weather impacting on the landslip and its repair, the County Council applied the maximum possible closure period, though not intending that the road will be closed for the full period.
Work is to start on the other repairs needed on the B5056 just south of Bradbourne Mill and Tissington Ford, where the other temporary lights were situated, within the next month or so.
Currently the land drains on the hillside above the Fenny Bentley landslip are being surveyed and it is planned that drainage on the hillside will be improved prior to the start of the road repairs. The work on the actual landslip is planned to begin shortly after the Christmas and New Year holidays. This will involve sinking piles down to bedrock and rebuilding the retaining wall prior to re-instating the actual carriageway. It is anticipated this work will cost in the region of £600,000. (Presumably their previous expectation of the repairs taking some three months still stands, suggesting the road is still due to re-open by next April.)
Our Councillor Simon Spencer is in regular contact with Highways on this issue and is pressing them to ensure the road is reopened as soon as possible.
The County Council are concerned that despite their various road blocks vehicles are still using the B5056 at the landslip. They point out that the road is unsafe and people ignoring the road closed signs will not be covered by insurance. The Council are to bring in a crane so they can place large stones in addition to the existing ramps and barriers.
Possible implications for the other local roads during the closure, including gritting and minor repairs, are under consideration.
It was emphatically stated that the situation at Fenny Bentley is not a repeat of that of the former A625 at Mam Tor and the County Council anticipate the B5056 will be reopened as soon as possible.
People can contact the County Council via their Parish Councils or via Cllr Spencer or directly themselves (see our Government & Local Government Directory for contact details). Alternatively any comments left here will be passed on to Highways.
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