Lorry blocking Jackson Avenue, Nantwich

Scottish Power has suspended works on London Road in Nantwich after complaints about traffic control and parked vehicles.

The works began this week as part of a £3.9 million project by SP Energy Networks to upgrade supplies to Nantwich and Stapeley.

But many residents in the Jackson Avenue area have complained after contractors left large lorries and diggers parked across junctions and outside driveways.

Traffic delays also caused queues to back up along London Road to the level crossing, with some impatient drivers jumping the box junction.

In one incident, a resident of Jackson Avenue collided with a car on London Road, claiming works lorries were blocking her line of sight.

Now after pressure from Cheshire East Council, the company has agreed to suspend works to review disruption.

A Scottish Power spokesperson said: “In the London Road area, we plan to complete the cable installation within the next couple of weeks.

“But we have taken immediate measures in London Road and have suspended work whilst we review work plan and discuss traffic control measures to carry out the remainder of the works with minimum disruption to residents and the general public.

“The project overall, started in August south of Crewe, and will complete the cable laying stage by mid-April.”

A spokesperson for Cheshire East Council said: “We have had a number of reports regarding Scottish Power works along London Road and the inappropriate parking of plant and vehicles.

“Cheshire East Council’s highways staff have spoken to Scottish Power supervisors expressing our concern and requirement for immediate improvement – which they have accepted and will be actioning.

“Our highways team will visit every day to inspect the site to ensure all activities are progressing in a safe way and accommodating local residents’ access needs.”

Local residents affected by the works have been contacted by letter by Scottish Power advising them of the potential disruption and stating that they will maintain access to their properties during the works.

The council spokesperson added: “We will continue to monitor the situation and will step in again if Scottish Power’s performance drops below the required standard.”

3 Comments

  1. George Thomas says:

    Hilarious, they now have a safety car leading the convoy up and down the road, took them a while to think of that one!!

  2. Although CEC is fairly prompt to fix minor highways faults such as replacing bulbs in street lights, they are utterly helpless in getting Scottish Power to fix more complex wiring faults in a reasonable time. When they realised that the two lights by Crewe station needed SP attention in October, they were told to wait until February. Big Business has the real power, it doesn’t matter who is in charge at the council. When CEC dimmed street lights by 40% to reduce cost, SP put them on a higher tariff which has resulted, I believe, in no saving and more dangerous roads. They could have switched off lights at midnight, but that is when the SP tariff goes down to about a penny a unit, so there was no point, in financial terms, although it would have cut carbon massively.

  3. Once again we get the message from CEC of failure and incompetence on their part. If they had done their due diligence work properly in the first place, all this disruption could have been avoided. What have we done in East Cheshire to deserve this sort of dreadful treatment?

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