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KCC Member for Swale West, Councillor Mike Whiting held a very well attended public meeting at Newington Village Hall on Thursday 22nd August, to discuss the proposed replacement of 4.46km of old iron gas main along the A2, from Oak Lane to Key Street.
At the meeting, Southern Gas Networks (SGN), their contractor, Kent Highways and Kent Police all addressed residents concerns over some of the things that went well, and those things that did not go so well (or went badly) during the recent emergency closure of the A2 - Newington High Street.
It is proposed that engineers will start gas main replacement works on the A2 - London Road at its junction with Oak Lane and will progress eastwards towards Key Street Roundabout. At this stage to ensure everyone’s safety, SGN will need to have temporary traffic lights in place around their work area which will move with them as they progress along the A2 towards Key Street Roundabout. They have also agreed with Kent County Council to carry out specialist surveys over the coming week on all the utilities located in the road, which will help determine exactly which traffic management is required.
SGN Gas estimate that to replace the 4.46km of old iron gas main along the A2, from Oak Lane to Key Street will take them 42 weeks. They plan to carry out the works in 11 small phases. Some phases of the works may require the closure of side roads. More info on this will be advised nearer the time. Contractors will be working 6 days a week replacing the old gas main with reinstatement work being carried out on Sundays. They plan to carry out the works under temporary traffic lights this time, meaning no more full road closures of the A2 Newington - High Street are planned.
SGN, their contractor, KCC Highways and Kent Police all plan to work together to minimise any disruption to residents and business during these works. All have listened to residents concerns about the high number of HGVs using the A2 and the problems it causes, the unsuitability of some nearby country lanes as official diversion routes, improving signage next time round and extra police enforcement to deal with drivers who choose to ignore the road signs that have been put in place.
The proposed start date of Monday 16th September is now looking unlikely because of KCC Officers' concerns, many of which were raised by members of the public during the meeting.
For those that couldn't make the meeting, above is a video created from the slideshow presentation given by SGN Gas during the meeting.
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