Unbelievable!

[Buckman]

Not sure if Open reach decided to play their own practical joke today. The CL that we visited frequently has the road off the A38 going through the village and then stops when it reaches the River Severn. So only one way to the CL and the same way back!

On the Friday Openreach erected signs stating that the road would be closed on Easter Monday between 9am and 4pm. What??? The landlord of the pub in the village was not amused as he would be losing a lot of custom. Secondly in addition to the CL in another part of the village there is a proper caravan park. Like us many people would be wanting to leave on the Monday.

To crown it about 2 miles further down the road was an Openreach sign stating that a section of the road would be closed on the 2nd. So if you decided to stay the extra day to avoid the one closure you are snookered with the other closure. Not too much of a problem for a solo car, but no way could you take a caravan down so of the backgrounds!

As it turned out a number of very irate villagers contracted Openreach early this morning and the road was opened for free passage. We managed to get away at 10.30am so all was well.

 

[Mr Plodd]

To close the road you must get an authorisation from the local Highway Authority, and that's something I dealt with whilst working in highways.
Openreach were, without doubt, THE worst utility to deal with by a factor of about 10. I would frequently get phone calls from irate Openreach customers demanding to know why I had refused them permission for temporary traffic signals so Openreach could fix their phone problem. I kept a meticulous record of all applications, and the result of all of them. I would tell the caller to contact Openreach and ask to see a copy of the refusal email I ALWAYS sent if permission was refused. I never ever heard back from the callers.,

It wouldn't surprise me in slightset if Openreach had not, as per their seemingly "normal" practice made an application for that road closure

 

[Dustydog]

To close the road you must get an authorisation from the local Highway Authority, and that's something I dealt with whilst working in highways.
Openreach were, without doubt, THE worst utility to deal with by a factor of about 10. I would frequently get phone calls from irate Openreach customers demanding to know why I had refused them permission for temporary traffic signals so Openreach could fix their phone problem. I kept a meticulous record of all applications, and the result of all of them. I would tell the caller to contact Openreach and ask to see a copy of the refusal email I ALWAYS sent if permission was refused. I never ever heard back from the callers.,

It wouldn't surprise me in slightset if Openreach had not, as per their seemingly "normal" practice made an application for that road closure

And doesn’t the proposed closure notice have to be advertised in advance? Yes problems happen , accidents , gas leaks etc but not just on a short notice whim

 

[Buckman]

Just to add that asking the CL owner and also at the pub in the village none had been notified that the road was going to be shut. First they heard of it was from people passing the signs.

In Worcester about two weeks ago Severn Trent shut down Deansway a main arterial route in Worcester. No major issues like a water leak, Council got them by the scruff of the neck and told them to reopen the road as they had not asked permission. Large number of very irate motorists who were late for work that day!

 

[Mr Plodd]

And doesn’t the proposed closure notice have to be advertised in advance? Yes problems happen , accidents , gas leaks etc but not just on a short notice whim

No, it's not like planning issues.

 

[otherclive]

And doesn’t the proposed closure notice have to be advertised in advance? Yes problems happen , accidents , gas leaks etc but not just on a short notice whim

Sometimes works are advertised on large yellow boards or illuminated signs advising of the dates that work will be carried out. But you need 20:20 vision and to have successfully completed a speed reading course.