Road closure and footpath closure advise please.

[Sore Thumb]

On my normal commute to work there is a stretch of road that has been subject to a road closure.

The road close was advertised weeks before and signage at both ends of the road. I have been still using this road as access to the footpath was still available. I get off my bike and walk along this stretch of footpath and then again join the road.

I used the road/footpath today on the way to work. however on the return home at lunchtime they have closed the footpath to allow tracked vehicles to use half the road and footpath to move large pipes.

There is no physical way of going around this site as it is just past a motorway bridge.

There we no previous notices or notices today informing of a footpath closure.

You have to travel 1/4 mile before you get to the closure, then you have to turn around and then walk or cycle
2 1/4 miles detour.

As a cyclist this detour is not too bad but I see a number of pedestrians using this route.

To have to walk a unplanned and without notice detour for 2 1/4 miles in the hot weather we have had today is unacceptable.


When I first arrived at the obstruction there we a number of workers that could have talked to me but after a wait one came over and told me he was not sure of the delay but could be for a few hours.


I have complained to the highways department of the council and they have said they knew nothing of the
footpath closure.
They said that the company would only close the footpath for a few minutes, but with the amount of heavy work being carried out this would not have been the case. Also I was informed by the worker he was not sure how long it would be close and could be for a couple of hours.

When I did do the detour, I went to the other side and found a child on a BMX waiting for the path to be opened a detour would send this child onto a main road for 2 1/4 miles that if he knew the way.


So does anyone know the law or procedure regarding closing of a footpath? Do they need to put a notice up in advance or do they just not have to bother and carry on with the work without informing anyone like they did today?

Many thanks

 

[Sore Thumb]

I was really wondering if there is a legal/official process that they have to go through before they close a path on the side of a road as I am considering making a formal written complaint as well.

Thanks.

 

[Archie_tect]

There is a procedure to temporarily close an adopted Highway which includes the road and paths. If the Council did not know about it then it is unauthorised and you can complain, but it won't do any good as the Council would have to go to a Magistrate's Court to get an injunction to stop the work on site until the closure order is sorted out which won't get you anywhere at all if the repairs are now in such a state that they can't simply re-open it.

Normally covered by Section 247 of the Planning Act, but there are several possible routes....
http://www.lexisnexis.com/uk/lexispsl/localgovernment/synopsis/31664:31760/Highways/Diversion-and-closure

Normally to close a public footpath they have to advertise and display an alternative temporary route which has to be protected and kept open until the original path's line and level are reinstated.

 

[glasgowcyclist]

There should also be an apology board detailing the firm responsible for the work and a 24hr contact telephone number.

GC

 

[CopperBrompton]

Hardly seems worth making a fuss over, a 2.5-mile detour for a short time.

 

[classic33]

Hardly seems worth making a fuss over, a 2.5-mile detour for a short time.

Unless you happen to be walking!

 

[J.Primus]

You can call the police if someone is closing a public highway without permission. Not 999 but a non emergency number. Depends where you are though. If someone does it in the City of London they will pop along to see what the deal is but I'd imagine a lot of police departments couldn't be bothered.

 

[Beebo]

Could they not have escorted you through the work site?

 

[classic33]

Have you tried checking your councils website?
See if there have been any variations made to the origional closure notice. Any variation to the origional notice should also be on display on or near the site

 

[_aD]

It could be that something happened that meant a planned closure of "five or ten minutes" ended up being much longer because of some unforeseen circumstances. Before jumping to conclusions that the council and/or contractors were numpties, I'd want the whole story. Keep in mind that dragging the council through the courts costs everyone a lot of money and IMO should only be done for matters that are worth it.

If the council get taken to the cleaners as a result, maybe next time they'll just close the road to everyone for a month, just to be on the safe side?

 

[I like Skol]

............... Before jumping to conclusions that the council and/or contractors were numpties, I'd want the whole story.......................?

I have 1st hand experience of a situation like this and unfortunately it portrays a picture of incompetence or blasé refusal to acknowledge the situation from the LA.
In my recent history I was a keen 4x4 greenlane driver. Just near to my home is a short stretch of unsurfaced road. It is named XXXXXX Rd and has always been shown on the A2Z as a road etc. However, it is a challenging road to drive on with deep, slippy ruts in the clay surface. I made an enquiry of the local highways dept about the R-o-W status of the road and received a very vague and evasive reply that neither confirmed or denied the existence of vehicular rights on this stretch of 'road'. I wasn't particularly surprised as an acknowledgement of legal status would potentially incur claims for vehicle damage and recovery costs from motorists or a responsibility to sort out the mess with an expensive surfacing project and the traffic management that this obvious shortcut would require. A short while later I was returning from a school run when I hit some bad traffic queues so decided to use the road to get back home more quickly. I drove along the unsurfaced road and part way along found myself in the middle of a massive civil engineering site where the local hospital was building a new wing. I drove past deep, open ground works and active heavy plant machinery and soon found my exit blocked by security fencing and a jobsworth security guard who wouldn't let me off site to continue my journey! When asked where I had come from my response of having driven along a road I have driven along dozens of times before simply did not compute and after a refusal to open the gate I asked to speak with the site foreman/manager. I was soon allowed to leave the site.

I then went straight home and got back in touch with my contact at the LA highways dept. I questioned their knowledge of the R-o-W closure and also stated the fact that the site had been left open and unprotected regardless of the R-o-W status (I insinuated that an official suspension of vehicle rights also confirmed my previous question about the R-o-W status that they had failed to answer!). They promised to look into it and get right back to me......... I'm still waiting 5 yrs later

I cycled up to the site the next day to see what had been done and lo-and-behold, security fencing had now been erected at the other end of the road that nobody could possibly drive down, but still no official notices. It took nearly 2 yrs before the road was reopened. It is still a mess!

The OPs situation does not surprise me at all!