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Going flat out to fix the A41
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Highways chiefs are working ‘flat out’ to repair the damage done during recent snow – which will mean main roads being closed and major delays on the A41.
Herts County Council will fund the work, which is expected to cost hundreds of thousands of pounds.
The two-week programme of repairs will cover the nine-mile stretch of the A41 from its turn-off for Bourne End to its turn-off for Tring.
Work is also scheduled for two miles of the A414 between the Maylands roundabout and Magic Roundabout, 10 of the A41’s slip-roads and part of Bourne End Lane.
County council spokesman Andrew Dawson said: “The two recent periods of snow have done significant damage to the road network across the county and we are working flat out to address the damage done.”
A date has not yet been set for the repairs, which have not yet been fully costed – but the plan is to finish them by the end of March.
Mr Dawson said: “The works will be predominantly undertaken at night under full road closures of the affected sections. Signed diversion routes will be in place.”
But Tring county councillor Nick Hollinghurst thinks the A41 will be repaired lane by lane with a 40mph speed limit in force to limit disruption to motorists.
Roads bosses came under fire last month when Les Miserables production designer Eve Stewart, who lives in Kitsbury Road, Berkhamsted, said the state of the A41 was ‘disgusting’.
The 51-year-old, who has since won a Bafta for her work on the Tom Hooper-directed adaptation of the hit musical, said it made her afraid to bring film-makers into Herts.
The Gazette reported earlier this month that Herts County Council has accused its contractor Ringway of multiple ‘failures’ in repairing damage caused by bad weather.
Damage is caused to roads when water seeps into tiny cracks in the tarmac, then freezes and causes the cracks to grow.
Berkhamsted county councillor Ian Reay said: “After the very bad weather and the problems with snow and ice – and the problems with Ringway – we are having to catch up.”
But he said the council spends more on roads every spring and Mr Dawson said that the cost of the latest repairs are ‘normal’, especially when resurfacing A roads.
Are you happy with the state of our roads? Let us know, email thegazette@jpress.co.uk
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Weather for Hemel Hempstead
Monday 20 May 2013
Today
Light rain
Temperature: 11 C to 18 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: North
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 8 C to 16 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: North
