Whalebridge to be resurfaced... again

9:00am Saturday 21st July 2012 in News By Josh Layton

Whalebridge roundabout roadworks Whalebridge roundabout roadworks

THE wrong kind of asphalt is being blamed for parts of the road surface needing to be ripped up at the Whalebridge junction, just eight months after it was opened.

The traffic artery, which was redesigned in December as part of the regeneration of the town centre, is being dug up for the second time.

The work is scheduled to be carried out tomorrow and the following two Sundays to minimise disruption to traffic.

Ian Piper, chief executive of Forward Swindon, said the relay was included in the original plan and budget.

“The surface that was put down at Christmas was a temporary finish,” he said.

“We'd always planned to put a special surface down which has anti-skid properties and will improve the safety of the junction for motorists and pedestrians.

“Unfortunately this particular special tarmac can't be laid at temperatures below five degrees so when the rest of the work was being completed we weren't able to lay that.

“We had to take the decision to put the temporary surface down and come back later in the year to put that special anti-skid surface down.”

Swindon Council leader Rod Bluh used Twitter to hit back at claims that the work was being carried out because the wrong tarmac had been laid down.

He wrote: “That misrepresents the situation. The right road surface couldn’t be put down at that time of year due to the temperature issues.”

However the news follows frustration at delays with another regeneration project and a succession of protracted roadworks in the town.

The improvement scheme at Swindon's railway station forecourt has missed its completion date with developers partly blaming the rain.

Contractor Britannia Construction, which started the work last September, originally hoped to finish in June – but that has slipped to next month.

Drivers also face more than a month of road misery with parts of County Road closing from Monday for gas works.

The Whalebridge junction, next to Jurys Inn in Fleming Way, has been reconfigured as part of the Union Square regeneration. The overall £4m scheme is intended to make it easier for people to walk between areas within the centre.

That is for example across Princes Street and Fleming Way, between the shops and Union Square and the theatre, without barriers.

Comments(18)

LordAshOfTheBrake says...
9:16am Sat 21 Jul 12

If the relaying of the tarmac was in the original plans, was it ever published as such?

If not I call bu!!sh!t......

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onefortheroad says...
9:19am Sat 21 Jul 12

So if the current surface was intended to be temporary as they couldn't lay the anti skid surface at the time then I can't see how it can be "blamed".

Just who is doing the "blaming"....the Adver?

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Angry Swindon says...
9:27am Sat 21 Jul 12

Why on earth schedule road resurfacing in winter when the scheduled material to be used has a temperature stipulation. (Juvenile incompetence)

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Angry Bloke ( again ) says...
10:11am Sat 21 Jul 12

The project planning meant that the road was in completed in December, when the last thing, the laying of the asphalt, could not be completed as it could not be laid in temperatures of less than five degrees. Bad planning then I think ? Also, there was no anti skid asphalt used ...... so does that mean the person who recently hit the traffic light there can claim negligence against SBC for laying the incorrect tarmac/asphalt ?

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dmw1984 says...
10:14am Sat 21 Jul 12

Who is paying for this incompetence?

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SpeakUp says...
11:45am Sat 21 Jul 12

Maybe this was a golden opportunity to redesign the ridiculous layout that forces cars, vans, buses and trucks to do a U turn on a mini roundabout and to detour through side roads to get to the bottom of the town? The whole scheme is absurd and needs urgent redesigning.

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female resident says...
11:57am Sat 21 Jul 12

What with this and the ridiculous time it is taking to complete the station forecourt one does wonder about the competence of the people we have planning our revamped town. It's not just Swindon, it's everywhere, no-one is taught to plan properly for anything any more.

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dmw1984 says...
2:12pm Sat 21 Jul 12

There was a near miss today, saw a car go down the wrong lane, and nearly have a head on collision with an oncoming bus. Luckily no one was hurt. If you're not from the town and are not sure where you're going it must be a nightmare.

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greenpacer says...
4:51pm Sat 21 Jul 12

Total incompetence as per usual.

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swindonurock says...
7:49pm Sat 21 Jul 12

greenpacer wrote:
Total incompetence as per usual.
Other than maybe being overly-optimistic on the weather, and possibly they should have planned to do it a bit later in the year, I think most of the incompetence should be assigned to the Adver for trying to make a story out of nothing.

They couldn't lay it because of the weather. That's it; end of story. Everyone would soon have been on their backs if they had laid it and then found it needed re-doing again because they laid it when the temperature was too cold.

As for the previous comment, "...that forces cars, vans, buses and trucks to do a U turn...," wouldn't it have been easier just to say "traffic."?

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Oik1 says...
9:27pm Sat 21 Jul 12

As far as I'm concerned this whole project, including the new road lay out has been a complete 'balls up' from start to finish, whenever that may be!

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daggy1982 says...
10:01pm Sat 21 Jul 12

maybe when the whole union square project is finished the road layout will make sense.

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PeeGee says...
12:36pm Sun 22 Jul 12

There appears to be a bit of smoke and mirrors here. Anti skid surfaces are either hot or cold lay. It allows the suface to go down in either hot or cold conditions. There are extremes which would not allow this but certainly nothing we had last winter. Its not the tarmac which is anti skid its the surface applied to it. So why are they peckers and all sorts lifting huge chunks of road?

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I Could Do That says...
8:02am Mon 23 Jul 12

It's about time the public were informed of the truth behind this ridiculous road layout farce

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swindonjames says...
9:25am Mon 23 Jul 12

Why don't they just rip it up and start again - the junction makes no logical sense at all. Who gives a toss about the road surface, when you have to drive the wrong way in order to get where you want!!!! It's absolutely stupid!

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neiluk says...
10:32am Mon 23 Jul 12

Slow news day

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Even Angrier Monkey says...
11:49am Mon 23 Jul 12

Its true that the current road layout is completley non sensical

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swindonjames says...
12:24pm Tue 24 Jul 12

I honestly cannot understand what they were under the influence of whilst deciding on the road layout!

It infuriates me every time I have to drive across it.

I just think... whyyyyy!

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