A MAJOR Worcester road leading out of the heart of the city will be closed completely to traffic on the final weekend before youngsters go back to school, county transport chiefs have revealed.
New Road will be closed from 8pm next Friday to 6am on Monday, April 16 to ensure a new drainage system can be installed to help flood water disperse quicker than it does currently.
The work is part of a £1.2million scheme to reduce the impact of flooding in Worcester which will see almost 200 metres of New Road and 400mm of footpaths outside the cricket ground raised to reduce the risk of flooding.
County transport chiefs revealed late last year the work would enable New Road to be converted to take two-way traffic in and out of the city in the event of other roads flooding but no mention was made of a weekend closure when proposals for three months of roadworks were revealed.
In order to lessen the need for traffic to use the Southern Link Road a diversion will take vehicles heading towards St Johns from the city centre into a single lane over the bridge and then down Hylton Road and along Tybridge Street.
Traffic going eastwards into the city from St Johns will be restricted to one lane until the start of the bridge although there will be two lanes kept open over the bridge as usual.
These roads are usually one way so traffic coming west from the city during the diversion will be going against the usual flow of traffic.
Pedestrian crossing points will be provided during the closure but pedestrians crossing Hylton Road or Tybridge Street at other locations are reminded to be aware of traffic moving both ways.
Coun Tony Miller, cabinet member for the Environment, said: “The floods in 2007 and 2014 had such a huge impact on the city that we needed to review our flood alleviation strategies.
“These works on New Road are part of our ongoing works, across the county, to reduce the impact of future flooding to residents and businesses.”
