Ernie Clark. Hilperton Division, Wiltshire Council.

Why are the traffic lights are needed the whole time?
"Traffic Lights at Toll Gate, Holt.

It is the aim of Wiltshire County Council, through the Traffic Management Team, to improve co-ordination of road works and to minimise the inevitable disruption this can cause to travellers. Signing and guarding are necessary parts of working on the public highway and are there to protect works from passing traffic and passing traffic hazards within the working area.

I have been informed that last weekend there was 2 open excavations in the carriageway that required guarding. One was part of the drainage works at the site and the another was an exposed British Gas 10” main that requires moving.

There were no men working at the site over the weekend period and so signing and guarding was reduced to a minimum and the three-way lights were reduced to two-way to improve traffic flow. As you can imagine it was not possible to remove the lights with a gas main exposed. The county is sorry for any disruption caused however this is a necessary part of the works.

Carriageway Resurfacing.

The area office is aware of the condition of both Trowbridge Road, Bradford on Avon and Wicker Hill, Trowbridge and they are on the proposed list for resurfacing. We will not know whether these sites are able to be resurfaced during the next financial year until the highway maintenance budgets are announced and the community highway information packs are released. Therefore there can be no guarantee when this work will be carried out. However, the sites will be routinely inspected and any safety defects will be repaired to ensure the safety of the travelling public.

Developer Work at New Terrace, Staverton.

The work carried out by the developer at New Terrace was carried out under a section 106 agreement. Under this agreement, the County holds bonds against the work until it has proven to have been constructed to the County’s standards and it has passed a minimum of a 2 year maintenance period without any problem.

The bond for this work is still in place and the matter of the uneven surface is being dealt with by the County’s Development Control Section."