Members of the public concerned about Burton's second controversial bridge closure in less than a year are being invited to a drop-in event designed to dispel fears of more chaos.
People can find out more about the planned Burton Bridge works at a community drop-in event in the town - five days before the planned three-month closure.
It comes seven months after the reopening of St Peter's Bridge, which also controversially closed last year for two and a half months while similar strengthening work took place.
However, Staffordshire County Council faced a subsequent backlash from businesses in the town who claimed shoppers were being discouraged from visiting in a bid to avoid traffic queues.
The authority has taken on board previous concerns and will aim to keep at least one lane of Burton Bridge open while work takes place.
It is also hoped the work will be completed before the start of the new school year in September.
The informal event will be held at the Burton Bridge Inn, in Bridge Street, from 2pm to 7pm, on Wednesday, June 13, and the project team will be on hand to answer any questions and explain more about the "absolutely vital" scheme to safeguard future use of the bridge.
Work to strengthen and safeguard the landmark bridge is due to start on Monday, June 18 and scheduled to be completed in time for the start of the school term in September.
One lane on the bridge will remain open to traffic into Burton while access will be maintained for cyclists and pedestrians to encourage people to continue to visit and support the town.
Helen Fisher, Staffordshire County Council’s cabinet member for highways and transport, said: “The strengthening of Burton Bridge is absolutely vital if people and businesses are to continue to benefit from its use for years to come.
“We recognise that this scheme by its very nature will cause some level of inevitable disruption and this is the chance for people to come along and meet the team and find out more about this hugely important scheme.
“We want people to very much support local businesses during the works and hope as many people as possible will come along and find out more about the scheme at the event, which is being held at the Burton Bridge Inn.”
If people are unable to attend the event they can still find out more and sign up for updates at www.staffordshire.gov.uk/burtonbridges or email the team at burtonbridges@staffordshire.gov.uk
After listening to the views of residents and businesses, and also taking on board the views of the emergency services on traffic management, the council has confirmed:
- The rescheduled work will start on June 18 and finish in time for the start of the new school term in September, a reduction of three weeks on the original plans.
- One lane on the bridge will now remain open, instead of the proposed full closure of all four lanes. This will be into Burton to allow emergency services to manage journeys over the bridges and encourage people to support businesses in the town.
- Extra crews will be deployed. During the scheme work will be carried out from 7.30am to 4.30pm seven days a week, with additional twilight shifts from 4.30pm to 10.30pm Monday to Friday – except when curing time for materials is necessary.
- Overnight working is not possible for the full duration of the scheme because of the impact of noise on nearby residential areas.
- Some overnight work will be needed towards the end of the project to apply the final carriageway surface and the bridge will be fully closed overnight and reopen at 6am.
- Access will be maintained for cyclists and pedestrians.
