After several weeks of initiation works, the third and final phase of the A3400 is set to commence.
Work is in the process of being programmed in before a start date can be confirmed. Residents will be notified with details of traffic management when that is confirmed and can be shared.
Phase 3 Initiation Works have been ongoing since the start of the month involving trial holes on the outbound verge to understand the location and depths of existing utilities and identify a clear route for new storm water sewer to be constructed between Worths Way and The Avenue.
Earlier this week, works then switched to the inbound side of Birmingham Road from the veterinary surgery to St Peter’s Way. And included widening and resurfacing the footway and new drainage.
Works in the first section on the eastern (inbound) side of Birmingham Road include installation of a new storm water sewer, new street lighting and a new shared footway and cycleway.
New temporary traffic management (TTM) arrangements for the first section will allow two-way traffic to run on Birmingham Road by the use of narrow lanes, where the inbound traffic will be able to use the middle lane, usually reserved for right turns, whilst the nearside lane on the eastern (inbound) side of Birmingham Road will be closed.
The western (outbound) side of these initial works between St Peter’s Way and Worths Way will then be completed. These works will involve new drainage, new lighting, a new shared use footpath / cycle path and a new bus shelter.
The main Phase 3 works will be completed in sections running from St Peter’s Way to the main Clopton Road / Arden Street junction and are expected to be completed this year. Details of the first section of these works, their specific timings and the traffic management arrangements involved will be announced shortly. It is expected that these works will commence in early April.
To minimise disruption and as each section of Phase 3 progresses, we will also see the resurfacing of the carriageway, as well as the resurfacing of the carriageway within the Phase 2 section of the works (Bishopton Roundabout to Worths Way).
A key adaptation of the Phase 3 scheme sees the removal from the initial design of the second entrance to the Tesco Superstore. This followed further design development, and the requirement to remove the current traffic signals at the junction of Western Road, after which a traffic modelling exercise was undertaken.
This showed that the proposed changes on Western Road sufficiently reduce the current traffic delays being experienced and that the additional car park entrance, as previously proposed, would no longer have a significant advantage. The costs to create this second entrance were also prohibitively high due to the existence of multiple utilities beneath the carriageway at this location, and the value for money this change represented wasn’t sufficient to retain it within the plans.
Cllr Tim Sinclair, Warwickshire County Councillor for Stratford North said:
“I’m pleased to see the Phase 3 works get underway as they represent the greatest improvements to traffic flow for residents and visitors, something the town has been crying out for, for years. Phase 3 will also bring benefits for pedestrians and cyclists with the new shared use paths connecting the works already completed in Phase 1 and Phase 2”.
“Changes to the traffic lights at Western Road, by McDonalds, will relieve the congestion caused by the two sets of lights at the main Clopton Road / Arden Street junction and then Western Road, this is one of the main complaints from drivers along this stretch. Throughout the scheme, the Council has been pragmatic and adaptable, and the changes to the design continue that way of working. They have removed the second entrance to Tesco and saved the subsequent cost and disruption of the work in favour of the later adaptations to the Western Road lights, and this makes sense to me in terms of the most effective way of dealing with the traffic delays.”
“We apologise in advance for any delays to journeys but will always listen and, wherever possible, make any adaptations to ease the disruption.”
For more information on this as well as the scheme drawings will be available on the website.