serving the population of Willingham in Cambridgeshire
Additional closure:
Wednesday 20 – Thursday 21 (two nights)
Cancelled closures:
Saturday 23 6am – Monday 25 5am
Saturday 23 – Sunday 24 (two nights)
Affordable housing on Station Road – parishioners may be aware of the development being constructed on Station Road. This is of 22 homes entirely of affordable housing (rented and shared ownership) with priority being given to Willingham residents and applicants with a connection, whether through work, residence or family, to Willingham. Contact details for Cross Keys Homes –
Phone: 01733 396406
Website: www.crosskeyshomes.co.uk/sharedownership
Email: sales@crosskeyshomes.co.uk
You may have seen the ongoing forecast of high winds and rain (Storm Gareth) expected to arrive tomorrow (Wednesday 13th March), affecting parts of the South East and the East of England.
Our electricity network is built to be resilient but high winds and rain can damage overhead power lines resulting in some customers losing their electricity supply. Where this happens we work to restore power as quickly and safely as possible. We have organised for additional staff in our contact centre to help customers whose electricity supply might be affected by the predicted weather, and we have called-up additional engineers to carry out repairs to our electricity network.
Both you and your local residents will be able to find regular updates on our website www.ukpowernetworks.co.uk and social media @UKPowerNetworks throughout this period.
Anyone experiencing a power cut can:
We urge the public to stay well clear from power lines and anyone spotting a damaged power line needs to report it to us immediately by calling 105 from a landline or mobile phone.
If they see electricity lines that are down or causing significant risk to the public they should call 999.
We provide extra help to customers on our Priority Service Register during a power cut. Households with older or disabled people, those with children under five, or where someone uses medical or mobility equipment that requires electricity as well as other reasons can join the register. You can find out more information about our Priority Service on our website: ukpowernetworks.co.uk/priority .
If you would like to share information about preparing for the extreme weather or the priority service register on social media you might like to use the following:
UK Power Networks has extra staff on hand to deal with the impact of Storm Gareth. Call 105 to report a power cut and visit https://www.ukpowernetworks.co.uk/storm-centre-prepare or message @UKPowerNetworks on Twitter. #stormgareth #ukpnnews
Do you, or someone you know, need extra support during a power cut? @UKPowerNetworks provides free services to vulnerable customers. Visit https://www.ukpowernetworks.co.uk/power-cut/priority-services-register for more information. #stormgareth #ukpnnews
Traffic! Whether stationary or moving, it is one of the most discussed issues affecting Willingham.
Stationary – Following issues regarding parking around the Primary School in Thodays Close, new yellow lines have been marked out restricting parking to improve safety for both pedestrians and drivers. This has caused problems further afield where people are now parking, especially at the junction of Long Lane, Silver Street and the doctor’s surgery. This is also making it difficult for residents to enter & leave their properties. Of course this doesn’t affect those who see the bright yellow lines as their personal parking spaces and use them instead of walking too far. They do this elsewhere in the village, so why not here?
Speeding – We have 2 interactive speed signs (SID) supplied by Mick George Ltd. These have been on Earith Road and now one relocated to Over Road. This is very effective in alerting those who inadvertently find themselves over the limit. In conjunction with this, Community Roadwatch are conducting speed and vehicle checks, counting lorries in particular and informing companies if their marked vehicles are travelling over the limits. Unfortunately this doesn’t help with speeding in Church Street, Long Lane, etc., but those doing it will ignore conventional limits anyway.
30mph limit on Station Road – after a very protracted period of discussion and lobbying with County Council Highways we have been notified that the works order has finally been placed with the contractor and we are now awaiting a start date for the work to commence. This will extend the 30mph limit almost to Stanton Mereway. The SIDs will help to reinforce this as well.
HCVs – The issue of Heavy Commercial Vehicles coming through the village has caused distress to many. HCVs travelling to Northstowe and the A14 upgrade are not supposed to come through the village but use other routes. The council have lobbied strongly to get this checked and the operators prosecuted. A further issue is the proposed gravel extraction at Willow Hall Farm in Haddenham by Dennis (Haddenham) Ltd which anticipated 90-150 HCV movements per day for 8 years. Originally this was planned to only travel through Earith, but following their objections, they have suggested the B1050 through Willingham was a perfectly viable alternative, especially if the destination was Cambridge! We have protested strongly to Cambridgeshire CC (the planning authority) about this.
Affordable housing on Station Road – parishioners may be aware that of the development being constructed on Station Road. This is of 22 homes entirely of affordable housing (rented and shared ownership) with priority being given to Willingham residents and applicants with a connection, whether through work, residence or family, to Willingham. Contact details for Cross Keys Homes –
Phone: 01733 396406
Website: www.crosskeyshomes.co.uk/sharedownership
Email: sales@crosskeyshomes.co.uk
Parish Clock – The Clock stopped working before Christmas and upon investigation to came it to light that a full overhaul was needed. Work has been scheduled to start at the beginning of April.
Cemetery Gates on Church Lane – Following ongoing issues with the gates and feedback from parishioners experiencing difficulties opening them, the Council are looking into the feasibility of replacing them with hard wood gates
Please find attached April 2019 Highway Events Diary. This month has seen a large number of applications reaching us and therefore the 2019 diary has expanded. Please take a moment to review the attached and if you have any questions please do get in touch.
Coming up:
East of England Showground 11th – 13th June 2019, Plantworx
*Please remember details of all highway events can be found on https://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/residents/travel-roads-and-parking/roads-and-pathways/highway-events/
Key event dates
28th April – St George’s Fayre March
5th May – Fen Drayton 10K
12th May – Sawston Charity Fun Run
25th and 26th May – The Duxford Air Festival
1st – 2nd June – Tour of Cambridgeshire
7th July – Race for Life, Cambridge
2nd July – Cambridge County Show (Wimpole Hall Farm)
1st August – Cambridge Folk Festival (Cherry Hinton Hall)
20th October – Cambridge Town and Gown
Please note an update to next week’s planned road closures on the A14 between Swavesey and Bar Hill.
The below closures will go ahead as planned on Monday 4th and Thursday 7th to Sunday 10th (5 nights in total):
On Tuesday 5th and Wednesday 6th, the closure has been revised to:
Road Closures Week commencing 4th March
A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire: major improvements
Construction work on the new A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon scheme is underway. We are currently carrying out a variety of tasks for which we need to close lanes or carriageways on the A1, A14 and some local roads at times, usually overnight between 8pm and 6am, unless otherwise stated. A clearly signed diversion route will always be in place for closures.
For this week, the planned closures are:
Full closures
Monday 4 to Sunday 10 (seven nights)
• A14 eastbound between Swavesey junction 28 and Bar Hill junction 29
Strategic traffic will be diverted south on the A1198 at junction 24, then east on the A428 to re-join the A14.
• A14 westbound between Bar Hill junction 29 and Swavesey junction 28
Vehicles will be diverted west on the A428 then north on the A1198 to re-join the A14 at Godmanchester
• A14 westbound to westbound Girton junction 31 loop
Monday 4 to Friday 8 (five nights)
• A1 northbound between Buckden and Alconbury
Vehicles will travel east on the A428, north on the A1198, west on the A14 and then north on the A14 link road to re-join the A1
• A1 southbound between Alconbury and Buckden
Vehicles will be diverted south on the A14 link road, then east on the A14, south on the A1198 and west on the A428 to re-join the A1
• A14 eastbound Ellington junction 20 entry slip
Saturday 9 6am to Monday 11 5am
• A1 southbound between Brampton Hut and Buckden
Vehicles will be diverted east on the A14, south on the A1198 then west on the A428 to re-join the A1
Saturday 9 7am to Sunday 10 7pm
• Offord Road
Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 7am to 7pm
• Oakington Road, Dry Drayton
CAMBRIDGESHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL
Rampton Road, Willingham and High Street, Rampton
(TEMPORARY PROHIBITION OF THROUGH TRAFFIC)
ORDER 2019/193
NOTICE is given that Cambridgeshire County Council has made an Order
pursuant to the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, as amended by the Road
Traffic (Temporary Restrictions) Regulations 1992, the effect of which is to
stop any vehicle from proceeding along Rampton Road, Willingham and HighStreet, Rampton as lies between number 114 High Street and 168 Rampton Road.
Access will be maintained to properties affected by this order.
The alternative route for vehicles is via Newington – Long Lane – Berrycroft –
B1050 – A1123 – B1049 – High Street, Cottenham – Rampton Road – Church
End, Rampton – The Green and vice versa.
The Order is made to facilitate carriageway patching works which are being
carried out on or near this highway and it will come into operation on 6 March 2019 and continue until these works have finished or on the 5 September 2020 whichever is the earlier.
It is anticipated that these works will be carried out 09:00hrs to 15:00hrs daily between 6 March and 8 March 2019.
The Order shall not apply to any persons lawfully engaged in connection with any works for which it is made, any member of the Police Force, Fire and Rescue Service, Ambulance Service, a vehicle being used by Special Forces during the execution of their duties or to any person acting with the permission or upon the direction of a Police Officer in uniform.
Graham Hughes, Executive Director, Place and Economy, Shire Hall, Castle Hill, Cambridge CB3 0AP Wednesday 27 February 2019
Just a reminder that these works only include works that are due to start between (1st – 15th March) and longer term works that are still in progress will have been included on previous reports. Alternatively please refer to http://www.roadworks.org which will include details on emergency road works.
WORK HAS FINISHED ON THE 750M LONG RIVER GREAT OUSE VIADUCT
Better journeys on the A14 are one step closer now that construction has been completed on the biggest bridge in Highways England’s £1.5 billion A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon upgrade.
The River Great Ouse Viaduct stretches for half a mile and, when it is open to traffic, will take the new A14 over the river and the East Coast Mainline Railway. It is part of a brand new 12-mile bypass that is being built to the south of Huntingdon away from the existing A14 and will link together the other four miles of the A14 being transformed in Britain’s biggest road upgrade.
The £1.5 billion scheme will transform journeys on one of the East of England’s most vital roads, and the completion of the viaduct is the latest piece of the puzzle to be put in place.
We’ve shared a time-lapse video showing the work that has gone into creating the huge bridge. This can be viewed on our scheme Facebook page at www.facebook.com/A14C2H/.
Willie McCormick, Construction Director for the A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon improvement scheme on behalf of Highways England, said:
“This viaduct over the River Great Ouse, south of Huntingdon, is by far the biggest bridge on our 21-mile project. It’s taken over 18 months to build, and covers 747 metres to carry drivers over the river and floodplain – yet when it opens to traffic in 2020, drivers will cross it in less than 30 seconds.
“Our hardworking team is building 34 new bridges and structures as part of this epic project to deliver a new and improved A14 between Cambridge and Huntingdon for the 85,000 vehicles a day who drive it. We’ve already opened nine of these to traffic, but around three quarters of the work we are doing is off the existing road network and unseen to drivers.
“We have up to 2,700 staff working on the A14 most days, and it has been remarkable to see this new road emerge as we have moved earth and delivered a wide array of structures. We’re over half way through delivering the new A14, and this video will show people the hard work that is being done that they can’t see, and understand just how much has been done since work began in November 2016.”
Some 64 pillars are needed to carry the viaduct over the River Ouse floodplain, each around two metres wide and embedded up to 30 metres in the ground. The pillars support the 17 spans of steel beams and concrete slabs which form the bridge deck. When the new A14 fully opens by December 2020, the bridge will help to reduce journey times on the road by up to 20 minutes.
The River Great Ouse Viaduct is one of 34 main bridges and structures on the A14 improvement scheme. Once the new road is open to traffic, it will add capacity, boost the local and national economy and cut up to 20 minutes off drivers’ journeys.
Innovative working by an on-site prefabrication yard has helped the team complete the viaduct structural work for £4 million less than anticipated by using more traditional methods, while also making it safer for the workforce with less time spent working at height.
Main construction on a project to upgrade 21 miles of the A14 between Cambridge and Huntingdon started on Monday 28 November 2016 and is on target to be opened to traffic by December 2020.
CAMBRIDGESHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL
Earith Road, Willingham
(TEMPORARY 40MPH TO 20MPH SPEED LIMIT)
ORDER 2019/219
NOTICE is given that Cambridgeshire County Council has made an Order pursuant to the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, as amended by the Road Traffic (Temporary Restrictions) Regulations 1992, the effect of which to impose a 40mph to 20mph speed limit along Earith Road, Willingham as lies between number 90 and Bridge Farm.
The Order will be effective, for safety purposes, when signs are in place indicating the speed limit along the whole or any part of the above mentioned length of road whilst works are in progress or temporarily suspended.
The Order is made to facilitate carriageway maintenance works which are being carried out on or near this highway and it will come into operation on 19 March 2019 and continue until these works have finished or on the 18 September 2020 whichever is the earlier.
It is anticipated that these works will be carried out between 19 March and 29 March 2019.
The Order shall not apply to any persons lawfully engaged in connection with any works for which it is made, any member of the Police Force, Fire and Rescue Service, Ambulance Service, a vehicle being used by Special Forces during the execution of their duties or to any person acting with the permission or upon the direction of a Police Officer in Uniform.
Graham Hughes, Executive Director, Place and Economy, Shire Hall, Castle Hill, Cambridge CB3 0AP
Wednesday 27 February 2019