Road closed after drivers ignore signs (From The Argus)
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Ditchling Road closed after drivers ignore signs
2:10pm Wednesday 22nd February 2012 in News
The southern end of Ditchling Road, Brighton, remains closed until March 23
Police had to be called in to stop motorists ignoring a road works block and driving into oncoming traffic.
Council and utility company bosses offered to pay Sussex Police to permanently direct traffic in Ditchling Road, Brighton, but eventually decided to close one of the city centre’s key routes completely.
Negotiations on safety measures at the site have added to delays, which will now run a month longer than originally thought.
The work, by UK Power Networks to repair a 33,000-volt cable network between Viaduct Road and Warleigh Road, started on January 11.
Originally only the southbound lane was closed but problems soon emerged.
Disobeyed closure
A briefing sent out by Brighton and Hove City Council said: “Unfortunately road users did not obey the southbound closure and UK Power Networks had several near misses where traffic drove head-on at legally driven cars heading north.”
Police were called to monitor traffic but discussions continued over a long-term solution, meaning all work stopped for a week.
The council asked the police if the utility company could pay for their presence although admitted it was “unlikely” this would happen.
Eventually both sides decided the road should be closed completely, saying this would allow workers to complete the repairs quicker.
Despite this the scheme, which was due to be completed by February 24, is likely to continue until March 23.
Severe disruptions
The briefing admits bus services will be “severely disrupted” and apologised to motorists.
A Sussex Police spokesman said: “Brighton and Hove City Council did pose the question informally as to whether we would be prepared to do this task for payment.
“We have previously been asked to do this in other areas but although it would be at no cost to Sussex Police it was not thought to be a good use of resources and in the current financial climate sends out the wrong message to the public.”
A council spokesman said: “The council is now doing all it can, liaising with the bus company and others to work around the problems caused by this closure.”
A UK Power Networks spokeswoman said: “In this case numerous drivers were disregarding the southbound road closure and the local authority advised us to alert the police.”
Comments(30)
whereisthe...?
says...
2:24pm Wed 22 Feb 12
Joshiman
says...
2:39pm Wed 22 Feb 12
rolivan
says...
2:45pm Wed 22 Feb 12
papa_melons
says...
3:00pm Wed 22 Feb 12
whereisthe...? wrote:http://www.youtube.c
Only Brighton drivers would be so selfish, stupid and reckless. What a lovely city.
om/watch?v=ZzsFYX3wQ
uc
some more selfish Brightonians for you ...
Uncle_Meat
says...
3:45pm Wed 22 Feb 12
Crystal Ball
says...
3:55pm Wed 22 Feb 12
papa_melons wrote:Doesn't look like Brighton to me. Or Brightonians.
whereisthe...? wrote:http://www.youtube.c
Only Brighton drivers would be so selfish, stupid and reckless. What a lovely city.
om/watch?v=ZzsFYX3wQ
uc
some more selfish Brightonians for you ...
NickBtn
says...
4:00pm Wed 22 Feb 12
The utilities should be charged for each hour that a road is closed or part closed. That way there will be an encouragement to work quickly and effectively. Even more to co-operate with each other to share the costs of closing the roads
Yes the utilities do need access - but 3 months worth?! This is a major bus route as well as a popular car route. The closure is costing a lot of wasted time and money. The utilities should feel some of this pain too....
papa_melons
says...
4:02pm Wed 22 Feb 12
Pitviper
says...
4:09pm Wed 22 Feb 12
NickBtn wrote:Gas + electricity = potential for explosion, hence why they were not done at the same time or are you prepared to take the risk personally, I thought not!
This road was dug up for gas works before Christmas. Open for a few days and then closed again "for a couple of weeks" for electricity work. This work now looks set to continue for 3 months. The utilities should be charged for each hour that a road is closed or part closed. That way there will be an encouragement to work quickly and effectively. Even more to co-operate with each other to share the costs of closing the roads Yes the utilities do need access - but 3 months worth?! This is a major bus route as well as a popular car route. The closure is costing a lot of wasted time and money. The utilities should feel some of this pain too....
NickBtn
says...
5:05pm Wed 22 Feb 12
Pitviper wrote:There are dangers with all the utilities, traffic, people smoking, machines etc. There are ways to overcome this risk - and if charges were made to dig up the road then I'm sure that they would be found!
NickBtn wrote:Gas + electricity = potential for explosion, hence why they were not done at the same time or are you prepared to take the risk personally, I thought not!
This road was dug up for gas works before Christmas. Open for a few days and then closed again "for a couple of weeks" for electricity work. This work now looks set to continue for 3 months. The utilities should be charged for each hour that a road is closed or part closed. That way there will be an encouragement to work quickly and effectively. Even more to co-operate with each other to share the costs of closing the roads Yes the utilities do need access - but 3 months worth?! This is a major bus route as well as a popular car route. The closure is costing a lot of wasted time and money. The utilities should feel some of this pain too....
This charging would also help avoid closures of 3 months - that's over 2000 hours! How long does it take to replace a cable?
therighttodrive
says...
5:20pm Wed 22 Feb 12
NickBtn
says...
5:33pm Wed 22 Feb 12
Northern Gas Networks is taking a refreshing approach to cutting disruption on a gas-mains upgrade project in Carlisle by allowing other utilities to work in its excavations.
The area's gas pipeline owner is currently replacing 250m of old gas pipes in the Victoria viaduct area of the city to protect the long-term safety and reliability of supplies.
As part of this job, engineers from United Utilities and Electricity North West have made use of the road being dug-up to carry out their own work as well. It’s cut the duration of the combined works from 14 weeks to just nine.
Hard times
says...
7:05pm Wed 22 Feb 12
therighttodrive wrote:No you don't. There is no such thing. And you have no right to drive.
I PAY ROAD TAX!
Gazza
says...
10:15pm Wed 22 Feb 12
davyboy
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10:58pm Wed 22 Feb 12
chris elmes
says...
11:11pm Wed 22 Feb 12
Hard times wrote:True but you do have the right to travel in your private conveyance.
therighttodrive wrote:No you don't. There is no such thing. And you have no right to drive.
I PAY ROAD TAX!
Brightonlad
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2:37am Thu 23 Feb 12
Brightonlad
says...
2:37am Thu 23 Feb 12
Will600000
says...
6:17am Thu 23 Feb 12
whereisthe...? wrote:Shut up !
Only Brighton drivers would be so selfish, stupid and reckless. What a lovely city.
Will600000
says...
6:25am Thu 23 Feb 12
Crystal Ball
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9:55am Thu 23 Feb 12
Gazza wrote:I'd see a doctor about that.
I’ll just like to point out my water pressure has dropped since this work started. They say it comes in threes.
Twittern Wanderer
says...
1:28pm Thu 23 Feb 12
"A WOMAN was sexually assaulted in the street by a convicted rapist as undercover surveillance officers tracking him were just yards away.
Michael Phillips dragged down his victim from behind, sexually assaulted her and then passed officers who had been tasked to carry out surveillance to stop such an attack.
Twelve officers had been assigned to follow Phillips that night but lost sight of him for less than a minute.
One detective said he could not hear the victim scream because he was partially deaf in one ear and was listening to surveillance equipment in the other. "
BRILLIANT, YOU COULD NOT MAKE IT UP! THIS IS THE REASON SUSSEX PLOD ARE A LAUGHING STOCK AND COULD NOT SOLVE CLUEDO!
Crystal Ball
says...
2:07pm Thu 23 Feb 12
Twittern Wanderer wrote:They were probably surveying the road closure in Ditchling road.
Never mind this non story..... what about this piece of sheer brilliance from Sussex Plod!
"A WOMAN was sexually assaulted in the street by a convicted rapist as undercover surveillance officers tracking him were just yards away.
Michael Phillips dragged down his victim from behind, sexually assaulted her and then passed officers who had been tasked to carry out surveillance to stop such an attack.
Twelve officers had been assigned to follow Phillips that night but lost sight of him for less than a minute.
One detective said he could not hear the victim scream because he was partially deaf in one ear and was listening to surveillance equipment in the other. "
BRILLIANT, YOU COULD NOT MAKE IT UP! THIS IS THE REASON SUSSEX PLOD ARE A LAUGHING STOCK AND COULD NOT SOLVE CLUEDO!
Nice to see we're employing officers with all their faculties intact...
Twittern Wanderer
says...
2:16pm Thu 23 Feb 12
Crystal Ball wrote:I know! No wonder Sussex are considered a laughing stock by other Police Forces.
Twittern Wanderer wrote:They were probably surveying the road closure in Ditchling road.
Never mind this non story..... what about this piece of sheer brilliance from Sussex Plod!
"A WOMAN was sexually assaulted in the street by a convicted rapist as undercover surveillance officers tracking him were just yards away.
Michael Phillips dragged down his victim from behind, sexually assaulted her and then passed officers who had been tasked to carry out surveillance to stop such an attack.
Twelve officers had been assigned to follow Phillips that night but lost sight of him for less than a minute.
One detective said he could not hear the victim scream because he was partially deaf in one ear and was listening to surveillance equipment in the other. "
BRILLIANT, YOU COULD NOT MAKE IT UP! THIS IS THE REASON SUSSEX PLOD ARE A LAUGHING STOCK AND COULD NOT SOLVE CLUEDO!
Nice to see we're employing officers with all their faculties intact...
Crystal Ball
says...
3:37pm Thu 23 Feb 12
Twittern Wanderer wrote:Heaven preserve us. We're all dooooomed!
Crystal Ball wrote:I know! No wonder Sussex are considered a laughing stock by other Police Forces.
Twittern Wanderer wrote:They were probably surveying the road closure in Ditchling road.
Never mind this non story..... what about this piece of sheer brilliance from Sussex Plod!
"A WOMAN was sexually assaulted in the street by a convicted rapist as undercover surveillance officers tracking him were just yards away.
Michael Phillips dragged down his victim from behind, sexually assaulted her and then passed officers who had been tasked to carry out surveillance to stop such an attack.
Twelve officers had been assigned to follow Phillips that night but lost sight of him for less than a minute.
One detective said he could not hear the victim scream because he was partially deaf in one ear and was listening to surveillance equipment in the other. "
BRILLIANT, YOU COULD NOT MAKE IT UP! THIS IS THE REASON SUSSEX PLOD ARE A LAUGHING STOCK AND COULD NOT SOLVE CLUEDO!
Nice to see we're employing officers with all their faculties intact...
Twittern Wanderer
says...
6:14pm Thu 23 Feb 12
Twittern Wanderer wrote:Brilliant!
Yep the very same officers who wrongly arrested and assaulted me whilst in custody. Brighton's finest in action!
ShorehamBeachcomber
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8:07am Fri 24 Feb 12
GRANDAD
says...
9:18am Sat 25 Feb 12
voiceofthescoombe
says...
11:32am Sat 25 Feb 12
you can still cycle down ditchling road you mad now.
Stuck in your metal boxes :)
s&k says...
2:22pm Wed 22 Feb 12