Residents' relief at road closure u-turn

People living and working in a Newark street are breathing a sigh of relief after plans to close the road for seven months were ditched.

Severn Trent said it had decided to tunnel under Harcourt Street rather than digging it up to reduce disruption and to speed up the process.

Harcourt Street will not avoid disruption entirely, however, as part of it will be closed, from November 14 until March, to allow Severn Trent to carry out work as part of a wider £60m project across Newark.

The road will not be closed in full, as was previously announced, but only a central part of it.

Vehicles will be able to access and park on either end of the street until the work finishes.

“This means that part of the road will be shut but most of it will be open while we fit the bigger sewer pipes that will help keep residents protected from sewer flooding,” said a spokesman.

'Nightmare'

Resident Mr Andrew Welshman said: “I am a gardener so a full road closure would have been a bit of a nightmare.

“I presumed there would no vehicle access at all so I would be wheeling lawnmowers and everything to and from my property.

“The parking is bad as it is and some of the firms cannot park in their normal spot.

“I know it has got be done, but Newark is a bit of a nightmare — it only takes an accident on the A1 and it is chaos.

“It is an inconvenience but if they can avoid closing the whole road I am happy with that,” he said.

If the closure had gone ahead, those with businesses on Harcourt Street would have had no vehicular access for themselves or customers.

That would have included guest lodge Wisteria House, which is near the junction with London Road where roadworks are already taking place.

'It is difficult enough now'

Landlady Mrs Muriel Dyson said there had been a lack of communication from Severn Trent and she had been informed the road would already be closed.

She said: “It is having an impact already, with the roadworks on London Road and others nearby.

“Nobody has actually contacted us to tell us what is going on.

“Guests do not know until they get here that there are roadworks nearby unless we tell them.

“They park on the street, and that is the problem — it is difficult enough now without any road closure.

“It should not really affect us that much if they work on a little bit of the road.”

Resident Mr Steve Garbett, who moved to Harcourt Street five months ago, said he had received no communication at all from Severn Trent.

“If we had not been told by neighbours we would not have known about the road closure at all,” he said.

“Part of our problem on this street is that people park at the end of the road and walk into Newark.

“Parking has got worse since they were working on London Road.”

Mr Garbett said there was still potential for the situation to worsen if part of the street was closed.

A spokesman for Severn Trent defended its communication with residents.

“In September we held a community drop-in session where we told residents that we had decided to tunnel under Harcourt Street, rather than digging it up to reduce disruption and to speed up the process,” said the spokesman.