Roadworks blocking drive - should we have been informed?

h.cowell

Hope I'm putting this in the correct forum

There are ongoing roadworks by the Gas Alliance along our busy street. I knew we would have considerable disruption when it reached us, but we had not been informed that it would completely block access to our drive. We now have two large holes and various bits of equipment etc directly infront of our entrance.

I have tried ringing the Gas Alliance but can't find a number that can be 'recognised'. So rang I the Highways Service yesterday who said the work is due to be finished within the next 10 days (eek!) and they would log a call to the chief engineer who would ring me with more information. So far I've heard nothing.

Is this legal? We asked our neighbour who shares the drive, and he hasn't had any notification either. Do we just have to grin and bare it?

Strider590

Had some resurfacing work done outside my house a few years ago, one of the elderly neighbours thought the huge yellow signs (saying "please do not park here on xyz, resurfacing work" looked unsightly attached to the lamp posts and so removed all but one of them from the street, first I knew about it was when I got woken up at 6am on a Saturday morning by a guy wanting me to move my car :mad:

h.cowell

Strider590, I feel your pain! Half the time it's just lack of communication that causes the problems.... well, that and elderly neighbours!

JCP

I had a similar situation a couple of years ago with contractors working for Southern Gas Networks.
They told me I wouldn't have access for 1 week - not the end of the world.
4 months later I finally got vehicular access to my property back - at the time I was informed that they could do pretty much anything they liked.

h.cowell

JCP - that doesn't leave me with much hope! Sorry to hear your experience, it must have been very stressful at the time .

My impression from the Highways Service was that it's not clear cut as to whether they have to notify occupants.

I've just noticed that the latest hole in the ground is now covered wiith a metal plate, presumably to allow access. I did a very ungainly 5-point turn yesterday and managed to squeak the car through the gap between barriers and one of gate posts. Not good when you consider it's a fairly narrow, busy road with traffic lights controlling the one-way system. We deliberately had our entrance widened a while back, because the road is so busy, and now we've had it narrowed again!!!

Oh well, the bright side is that the gas pipes are being renewed and should be safer...

System

There are regulations which must be followed when any roadworks are carried out.
See : Street Works Act
Section 66 would apply if the obstruction was not removed in a reasonable time. The local council highways dept. (the street authority) is responsible for ensuring that any contractor has complied with the regulations.

You should also be aware that the deeds to your property would usually include a clause that gives you rights of access. If the works cause an obstruction for an unreasonable period, then I would think you could get the council to reinstate your access, or make alternative parking arrangements available.
In my opinion, they should have provided steel plates over the hole before the contractor leaves the site each day so that you can access your drive in the evening.

vaio

h.cowell wrote: »

......Oh well, the bright side is that the gas pipes are being renewed and should be safer...

As you say, you shouldn’t have any more of those infuriating gas leaks or explosions.

You normally find that traditionally the Electricity Board schedule cable replacement starting a couple of weeks after the gas board have finished.

If you are really luck you’ll get the “full house” and the water board will be along later to install new pipes too

Strider590

vaio wrote: »

As you say, you shouldn’t have any more of those infuriating gas leaks or explosions.

Yeah, so annoying! Every few days, huge holes blown out of the road by exploding gas mains :rotfl:

vaio wrote: »

You normally find that traditionally the Electricity Board schedule cable replacement starting a couple of weeks after the gas board have finished.

Ain't that the truth, my parents village relies on tourism during the summer to keep the small shops/businesses open, for the last 4 years the high street has been dug up to do gas work, followed by water, followed by electricity, followed by sewerage, followed by gas again to fix someone else's f**kup.

Hardly anybody comes to the village any more now that it's name has become synonymous with road works and closed off roads.

h.cowell

BAA1 - thanks for a very informative post. I'll explore your link in a moment, and would never have thought to check the deeds (which we have a copy of) if you hadn't suggested it. I'm hoping the situation improves sooner rather than later... but I asked the guys doing the work earlier today and they said it should be about a week. They were shrugging and rolling their eyes at the time though!

Well, vaio's post gave me a much needed giggle. Reminds of that Carlsberg advert where all the utility companies turn up to work on the same hole in the road...'and that makes a refreshing change!'. Or maybe I'm just showing my age?!

Seriously though, our end of the street has been dug up and relaid countless times in the 10 years we've been here. It was closed for weeks and weeks last year for resurfacing.... and surely they knew then that the gas main was due to be replaced?! We *did' actually have a gas leak in front of our house about 4 years ago, and i thought they replaced pipes then too (but might be mistaken). And a couple of years ago, there was an electrical explosion under the pavement on the opposite side to us that knocked out half the lights in town!!!

We need to move.........!

Hammyman

h.cowell wrote: »

We *did' actually have a gas leak in front of our house about 4 years ago, and i thought they replaced pipes then too (but might be mistaken). And a couple of years ago, there was an electrical explosion under the pavement on the opposite side to us that knocked out half the lights in town!!!

We need to move.........!

All of that and you're whinging and whining about having to use the legs god gave you to walk to where your car is parked?

Some people just want their heads banging against a wall to knock some sense into them.

h.cowell

Hammyman wrote: »

All of that and you're whinging and whining about having to use the legs god gave you to walk to where your car is parked?

Some people just want their heads banging against a wall to knock some sense into them.

Err, are you just trying to be argumentative?!

We are now parking a street away and walking - we often use our god-given legs

Thing is, we have a house with a drive and would like to use it!