Chorlton Lane has been closed for seven weeks by National Grid Gas as they divert the mains gas pipeline in preparation for HS2a. This is a Section 17 application which means that it has already been passed via the HS2a Hibrid Bill that received Royal Assent last February. The closure has meant that the only access to and egress from residents homes on Chorlton Lane is via Waybutt Lane, a single-lane track that is rarely used.
Cllr Janet Clowes (Wybunbury Ward) has been working with residents affected by the closure, CE Strategic Highways officers, HS2 officers, Dr Kieran Mullan MP and National Grid Gas (NGG)representatives to mitigate the effects of this work on the local community.
To date they have achieved the following:
- the closure time has been reduced from 10 months to 7 weeks.
- NGG have undertaken to have a road sweeper on site 24/7 to keep mud and debris off the road.
- CE Highways have filled critical potholes / surface ruts.
- verge runnels have been cut to drain surface water into adjacent fields.
These mitigation actions are welcome but the fact remains that this is a single-Lane farm track that is not suited for domestic vehicles. The runnels will not be sufficient - the lane is usally flooded for long periods after heavy rain and there is no road drainage system on this route. Only one passing place has been constructed on the Waybutt Lane section meaning that vehicles meeting have to reverse significant distances (up to half a mile) in order to pass (assuming no other traffic comes up behind).
Since this first tranche of mitigations, Cllr Clowes has also successfully asked that emergency and waste collection vehicles be allowed access and egress via the Chorlton Lane / Newcastle Road junction for the safety of residents and to reduce conflict should residents meet these vehicles when using the lane. They are still requesting NGG or HS2 Ltd to construct additional passing places as a matter of priority.
Residents and Cllr Clowes will be meeting with HS2 representatives on site shortly to advocate this asap.
BBC Radio Stoke visited Waybutt Lane earlier this week and the video can be seen via this link:
https://www.facebook.com/bbcradiostoke/videos/1160737214664552
