Part of Newark town centre road to be closed from Saturday

Part of a key town centre road will be closed from Saturday as part of work to improve Newark’s sewer system.

The section of Sherwood Avenue from Barnbygate to the junction with Robins Court will not be accessible while Severn Trent installs valves on water pipes.

Access to Robins Court will be unaffected.

Severn Trent, which is carrying out a four year, £60m project to improve Newark’s waste and water network, said the work was to help better control its network through the installation of a pressure reducing valve.

It could take up to a fortnight for the work to be completed. Drivers will be diverted via Friary Road, Queens Road, Bargate and Castlegate, and Lombard Street.

A spokesman for Severn Trent said: “To keep our teams and other road users safe as they work, we’ll be closing sections of the road as we work.

“We’re really sorry for any inconvenience but our priority is to complete the work and get everything back to normal as soon as we can.”

Marshalls Coaches’ 22B and 90A services will both be diverted, with passengers urged to use the stops on London Road or Sleaford Road for the former, and London Road and Castlegate for the latter.

'One of those things that has to be done'

Mr Kenneth Tagg, the firm’s operations manager, said: “We’re notified pretty well in advance of these closures, and we’ve made changes to the Balderton to Nottingham and Grantham services.

“Sometimes it’s frustrating when the works finish early or later than expected, but it’s one of those things that has to be done.

“Customers realise this is not something that’s our doing so we’ve had no complaints about changes to services.”

In a few weeks, a stretch of Sherwood Avenue between Barnbygate and Magnus Street will be closed for preparation work ahead of the next stage of sewer work, which begins in the town centre in mid-February. Castlegate and Northgate will be affected.

Dates for this work have not yet been confirmed.

Regarding the latest phase starting in February, the spokesman added: “We’re building a new tunnel under the town that will help protect 400 homes and businesses from flooding.

“We’ll need to connect the existing sewer pipes to this new tunnel, and we’ll be doing that on Castlegate and Northgate.”

It is believed that a shuttle bus service will run in the town during these works, with stops including the bus station and The Wharf. Full details are yet to be released.