The second phase of the Mead Way works began in January 2021, with the contractor recently announcing a further delay to the completion of the road with the reopening of the carriageway now expected in November.
Swindon Borough Council have revealed that more than 200 working days have been lost on the scheme due to a combination of utility companies or their sub-contractors not being able to attend the site during the first national lockdown while, in recent months, the scheme has suffered as utility contractors have been unable to attend the site due to a backlog of work caused by the pandemic.
A complex network of cables and pipes underneath the Mead Way road surface means individual utility companies have to wait their turn to move their equipment before the next firm moves in and the road surface not being able to be completed until all the utilities have been diverted.
A Swindon Borough Council spokesperson commented “High level discussions have taken place between ourselves and a number of utility companies in order facilitate the works within a reasonable timeframe.
“Further delays were caused by wildlife issues within Phase 2. Mitigations were in place against these risks but the scheme was still adversely affected.”
“Our revised programme shows that the utility companies will be able to complete their work in the next few weeks. Once this has finished, Britannia Construction Ltd can then continue to install kerbs and build the foundations of the new lane.”
It has also been confirmed that with the funding for the road covered under Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, the delay has not caused the council to take on any additional borrowing to complete the works.
