Our Year in High Wycombe and surrounding areas

10,764 gullies emptied, 1,020,275 sqm urban grass cut, 6,570 defect repairs, 4,521 spray injection patching repairs, 73 gritting runs.

“The Wycombe Area is in the heart of the busiest part of Buckinghamshire’s network, being close to several motorway connections and major rail links.

During 2018-19 we accommodated several major third party works, such as the work on the Wycombe Master Plan and improvements by Highways England on parts of their network. There was the removal and replacement of the A404 Volvo Footbridge, the A404 surfacing and relining, and the major M40 resurfacing which saw the Handy Cross junction closed for several consecutive weekends.

I’m thankful to my whole team for working so closely with Kier, who were carrying out the resurfacing, to work collaboratively and try and lessen the impact on businesses and residents. This included trying to ensure the nearby historic bridge at Marlow stayed safe from overweight vehicles tempted to use it as a diversion round the works, which wasn’t always easy. The team has pulled together through a challenging year, to deliver the plane and patch programme and another successful winter season.”

Wayne Pickford, Area Manager, Handy Cross

In Detail: Marlow Obelisk Renovations

In August 2018 Transport for Buckinghamshire (TfB) carried out a major restoration of the Marlow Obelisk, a grade II listed way-marker erected in 1822, which had fallen into disrepair in recent years. 

The work, which took around four weeks to complete under night closures, was carried out by specialist contractors in order to best restore the antique stonework. Additional drainage work was also carried out around the bottom of the Obelisk to stop the ingress of water which is speeding up the deterioration.

The restoration of the obelisk was long awaited for the town, and was delayed due to practical concerns, particularly the congestion that it would create on local roads. Briefly, the removal of the Obelisk off-site was considered, before deciding that overnight working on the structure in situ was the most feasible option and less of a risk to the delicate, almost 200-year-old structure.

The project was the result of a long collaboration between Transport for Buckinghamshire, Wycombe District Council and Marlow Town Council, with support from the Marlow Society. The work itself was carried out by TfB’s supply chain partner Company of Artisans (Stonemasonry Renovation Specialist).

Interestingly, the restoration work revealed a noticeable colour difference between the main section of the structure, made of Portland limestone, and the topmost section leading to the point, which is sandstone. These contrasting materials have different properties and had to be repaired, cleaned and treated differently, exposing the original colour difference.

The limestone was treated with a protective substance called ‘shelter coat’, which couldn’t be used on the sandstone section as it could actually accelerate the decay process. The inscription panels on the lower part of the obelisk were repaired using lime mortar, which matches the colour and texture of the underlying stone.  

The work also revealed that there was originally a pump in front of the obelisk for public use, and it was found that the well and some of the pumping equipment is still present below ground.

Deputy Leader and Transport Cabinet Member, Mark Shaw commented at the time: 

"The completion of the restoration of Marlow Obelisk has been greatly anticipated and I think residents of Marlow will be really pleased with the end result. The obelisk has been restored to its former glory and really does look fantastic!"

  

In Brief: Working with residents solves flooding mysteries 

In May the drainage team assessed a chronic flooding issue on Manor Park Avenue, Great Missenden. After an investigation into the problem they discovered an open ditch which doesn’t appear on any plans was the cause of the floods. The works to improve the drainage involved working in the driveway of one of the properties – luckily the resident was extremely cooperative and grateful, because the ditch was also causing flooding to their garden.

Flooding on Manor Park Avenue, Gt Missenden

Drainage works went through a resident’s driveway…

In a similar situation, after heavy rainfall at the end of May 2018, residents at Bryants Bottom, Greatt Missenden, were suffering flooding. Once more, the investigation and solution involved disruption to driveways but the work was greatly appreciated:

“Your suggestion of raising the threshold and installing curbing alongside our property to divert water back onto the road seems perfect and it will certainly relieve us of huge amounts of worry (about our neighbours houses in particular) every time it rains.”

“It's great to see the driveways work starting in Bryant’s Bottom this week, building on the recent borehole work outside our house, and the work on ditches/gullies further up the road.  Many thanks for all of your help in getting this work done; it is much appreciated by the affected residents and the whole village.”

– Emails from residents at Bryants Bottom

Works ongoing, and the end result – solving flooding issues at Bryants Bottom

In Brief: Bollard schemes improve quality of life for residents – and offer value for money 

At the beginning of 2019, several bollard and dropped kerb schemes were carried out across the Wycombe and South Bucks area – the individual works were designed and planned as one big scheme, because they all fell within a 30 minute driving radius. This offered excellent value for money to the taxpayer and meant that we could install more bollards than the parishes requested at two of the four sites.

On Stony Lane, Little Chalfont, the verge and some of the kerb had eroded due to large lorries turning in from Amersham road – four bollards were installed.

Stony Lane verge, before and after the bollard installation

On Herbert Road, High Wycombe, cars parking on the grass verge opposite the shops was affecting visibility at the Micklefield Road junction – nine bollards were installed.

On Roebuck Avenue, High Wycombe, the grass verge opposite the bus stop had been destroyed by vehicles parking and residents could no longer safely cross the road at this site, and the bus stop was also obstructed– eight bollards were installed.

In Farnham Royal, four pairs of dropped kerbs were installed in Langton’s Meadow with two kerb realignments, pathway reconstruction with double height kerbing, and pedestrians guard rails. This scheme was requested to help disabled users access the high street.

Langton’s Meadow, before and after kerb works

In Brief: Major safety improvements on the A40 at Stokenchurch and West Wycombe 

In November, TfB began work to design and implement a scheme to improve safety on a 9.2km section of the A40, between Stokenchurch and West Wycombe. It had been identified through collision data as a high risk stretch of road, and funding for the scheme came from a nationwide government fund of £175million to improve the safety of 50 of the highest risk A road sections in England.

The work spanned several months, as the measures were extensive, including adding new anti-skid surfacing and red surfacing to increase road surface grip at approaching major junctions or bends, and improve visibility, as well as vegetation clearance  and refreshing existing road markings.

Solar studs were also installed within the un-lit sections on A40 with 60mph speed limit, and road signs and bollards were upgraded. Safety improvements were also made for pedestrians, including improving visibility on a Zebra crossing, and modernising the Pelican crossing. A pedestrian refuge island was added at the junction, and the existing footway was extended.

The year in brief across the whole county: Following a very tough winter in 2017-18, which resulted in a sharp increase in defects, TfB began 2018-19 by delivering a £2 million plane and patch programme countywide. The work began as soon as the weather got milder in late March, and was organised with local Members to decide on the roads and sites to repair.

The capital maintenance programme (major works such as resurfacing) was mainly carried out over the summer months – over 120km (or 796,000sqm) of road resurfacing was laid; 3,295 old style streetlights were upgraded to LED and 100 solar powered bollards were installed. 23 major drainage improvement schemes were carried out, as were: 10 structures schemes; nine road safety schemes, and five Intelligent Transport Systems (i.e. signals) schemes.

In total, 38,000 gullies were emptied, over 20,000 defects were repaired and over 3 million square metres of grass was cut. The gritting season started unseasonably early on the 26^th October and lasted well into April, but – while long – the winter was milder overall. 

Read more: Our Year in Aylesbury Vale, and Our Year in Chiltern & South Bucks. 

Our Year in Chiltern and South Bucks

11,586 gullies emptied, 1,338,057 sqm urban grass cut, 4,796 defect repairs, 10,097 spray injection patching repairs, 79 gritting runs.

"This year we finally built a new depot at Amersham! It’s so exciting to be moving into our new, improved workspace for the start of the new financial year. My team had long outgrown the quite cramped set-up at the old depot, however they have always got on with the job at hand with a great attitude and team spirit. 

This is true even when they are faced with significant challenges; earlier this year South Bucks was the unfortunate victim of a prolific fly tipper, who took to dumping large amounts of rubble and waste in the middle of the carriageway in more out-the-way spots.  This caused major disruption to drivers – in some instances we had to close roads to deal with the problem – and caused unwelcome setbacks to an already full workload.

Despite this, the spring plane and patch programme was delivered really well, and everyone has taken all the curveballs this year in their stride.”

 Rosie Taylor, Area Manager Amersham Depot

In Detail: Taylors Lane drainage works, Little Missenden

Being a rural county, Buckinghamshire has many lovely historic villages and period properties, but the problem with these picturesque settings is how ageing infrastructure can fail to cope – particularly in adverse weather.

Flooding issues at Taylors Lane, Little Missenden, had been ongoing for quite some time, and the site was recommended for major drainage works in 2017. The homeowners on Taylors Lane lived what they called a ‘weather dependent existence’ with a constant fear of being flooded.

TfB’s drainage team met with the family to hear about the historical issues near their property, and to investigate the quality of the current drainage. An upgrade for the ageing infrastructure was designed, and works were carried out in September 2018.

The end result was a new drainage system with a better capacity to cope with heavy rain, and was much appreciated by the owners:

“I have not had any occasions where I felt more compelled to write about the works or, more to the point, the workers of a County Council until we had modifications to the drainage outside our property on Taylors Lane…

From the moment we had our first meeting, Keith followed up all conversations and has delivered as promised. Not only that, my husband and I found your team committed, hardworking and pleasant.

My husband and I thank you for your professional handling of this work.”

In Brief: Upgraded pedestrian crossings for Amersham, Iver Heath, and Princes Risborough 

In November, three pedestrian crossings from the 1980s and 90s were upgraded in South Bucks to make them more energy efficient and improve their performance. The crossings on White Lion Road, Amersham, Aylesbury Road, Princes Risborough and Church Road, Iver Heath were all upgraded from Pelican to Puffin crossings – while both types of crossing require the pedestrian to push a button to cross, the Puffin crossing detects whether people are waiting and while they are crossing, making them more efficient for both pedestrians and drivers. The work was done using temporary signals and in total cost £88,000.

In Brief: Road Safety improvements in Amersham and Beaconsfield

In November 2018 three road safety schemes were carried out in south Buckinghamshire. 

On Cokes Lane, Amersham, the aim was to improve visibility of the junction with the A413 by replacing or installing new signage and bollards on the centre refuge islands, and on the approach. Vegetation was also cleared and new red-backed ‘SLOW’ road markings were laid on the road surface.

Cokes Lane Amersham, junction with A413

On Broad Lane, Beaconsfield, there was a similar brief – to improve visibility at the junction with Windsor Hill. Lining was refreshed on Broad Lane and new lining painted on the junction. New yellow backed signs and chevrons were installed on the junction and on approaches. Also in Beaconsfield, high friction anti-skid surfacing was laid on the A40 Wycombe End Road junction with Burkes Road. Vegetation was also cleared, and new signage and bollards were installed to improve visibility.

All the sites were identified for the schemes using collision data and analysis, and all in all cost around £40,000.

Broad Lane, Beaconsfield

Burkes Road, Beaconsfield

In Brief: Improving parking and safety for Chesham residents

Following requests from Chesham Town Council, TFB did some work in March to increase safety at some junctions, and also improve parking for residents, in Chesham. The solution was developed by the Chesham Working Group and TfB and included implementing 'no waiting at any time' restrictions, and shared use of limited waiting bays with resident permits.

New no waiting restrictions and permit parking in Chesham

In Brief: Working with Member to deliver the best end result in Chesham

Gullies in The Vale, Cholesbury Lane, and Wiggington Road in Chesham were upgraded and thoroughly cleaned in June 2018, when Councillor Patricia Birchley expressed concerns that the road was going to be resurfaced without any works being carried out to existing drainage.

A full drainage survey was then carried out to understand what was in place, and the resurfacing work was rescheduled for the following year to allow time to design a drainage solution. Patching on the worst areas was done to keep the road safe and useable in the meantime. 

The 13x3m deep chambers under Wiggington Road were emptied, and an upgrade was done to the Cholesbury Lane soakaway with some pipe enlargement and grip improvements. On The Vale catch pits and drain runs were improved.  

The year in brief across the whole county:

Following a very tough winter in 2017-18, which resulted in a sharp increase in defects, TfB began 2018-19 by delivering a £2 million plane and patch programme countywide. The work began as soon as the weather got milder in late March, and was organised with local Members to decide on the roads and sites to repair.

The capital maintenance programme (major works such as resurfacing) was mainly carried out over the summer months – over 120km (or 796,000sqm) of road resurfacing was laid; 3,295 old style streetlights were upgraded to LED and 100 solar powered bollards were installed. 23 major drainage improvement schemes were carried out, as were: 10 structures schemes; nine road safety schemes, and five Intelligent Transport Systems (i.e. signals) schemes.

In total, 38,000 gullies were emptied, over 20,000 defects were repaired and over 3 million square metres of grass was cut. The gritting season started unseasonably early on the 26^th October and lasted well into April, but – while long – the winter was milder overall. 

Read more: Our Year in Aylesbury Vale, and Our Year in High Wycombe. 

Our Year in Aylesbury Vale

15,925 gullies emptied, 1,361,673 sqm urban grass cut, 9,204 defect repairs, 9,087 spray injection patching repairs, 80 gritting runs.

“2018-19 got off to a difficult start because of the extremely tough winter, which saw us dealing with snow events all the way up to March. We estimated a 300% increase in pothole defects following the cold weather, which was measured from reported defects and routine inspections.

Getting on top of that was a big challenge for the team at Aylesbury, who have to cover the largest portion of the county, but I’m really proud of what they’ve achieved; namely, completing a backlog of over 1400 potholes whilst delivering the plane and patch programme both within budget and on schedule.

We also saw the biggest resurfacing scheme in the county in our area, on the Stoke Hammond Bypass, which required closures and diversions for 8 weeks, having an impact on the nearby network. Yet again, the team here made the best of it and worked with the CMP team to collaborate and use the road closures to carry out maintenance work on one of the busiest routes in the north of the county.”

-        Calvin Richardson, Area Manager, Aylesbury 

Long term improvements in 2018-19:

In focus: Stoke Hammond Bypass, July 2018

The biggest scheme of the whole Capital Maintenance Programme, the resurfacing of the A4146 which bypasses Linslade and Stoke Hammond Village, took place between July – September. During the eight-week project, the teams laid around 25,000 tonnes of surfacing material over 140,000 square metres of road - the equivalent area of 13 football pitches.

The work involved removing the entire original surface course, which had a number of defects and, in areas where investigations found structural weakness, replacing some of the lower layers. The new surface - hard-wearing hot rolled asphalt with chippings - is impermeable, and will seal the structure of the road and extend its life.

The newly surfaced Stoke Hammond A4146 bypass, July 2018

Stoke Hammond bypass, resurfaced by Transport for Buckinghamshire, July 2018

Some of the bypass soft verge areas were stiffened using recycled 'planings' from the old surface, which will aid drainage. While the bypass was closed, other teams took the opportunity to clear litter, maintain lighting and safety barriers, clean road signs, clear drains and central reservation debris, and cut back foliage. 

The response to the scheme, which had suffered some setbacks, was overwhelmingly positive; Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member Mark Shaw commented at the time;

"This is Buckinghamshire's biggest resurfacing scheme for many years, and my thanks go to the team who made it all happen - a great feat of planning and execution.”

In Brief: New signals for historic Brownlow Canal Bridge, Ivinghoe

Brownlow Canal Bridge, a grade II listed structure from 1800, is a key fixture in the road network through Ivinghoe. TfB refurbished the 1980s traffic signals for the bridge in October 2018, installing new extra low voltage equipment with LED signal heads to reduce energy consumption, new traffic sensors and control system for improved operation, and updated infrastructure for better and safer future maintenance and repairs.

The work was programmed to avoid conflict with the Stoke Hammond bypass scheme because of an overlapping diversion route, and tree and hedge cutting was carried during road closure to improve visibility of the traffic signals. Councillor Anne Wight commented:

“Thanks also for keeping me apprised of the timing of the works, and you have my heartfelt gratitude for finishing them on time!  It’s been a tricky few weeks around our division, so it’s great to be able to let the villages know when works are completed on schedule.”

Upgraded signals and traffic sensors for Brownlow Canal Bridge, Ivinghoe

In Brief: Improvements to Stoke Road Bridge reduce traffic noise
In August the TfB closed Stoke Road Bridge in Aylesbury overnight to make some improvements. The panels of the temporary bridge were retightened to reduce the noise generated when traffic travels over the bridge, while some pedestrian guardrails were replaced, vegetation cut back, and some damaged hazard markers replaced. This was a good example of collaboration between TfB teams to reduce the impact of works by carrying them out overnight, and different teams using the same road closure to get work done.

Retightening the panels on the temporary bridge, Stoke Road Aylesbury

In Brief: Stewkley drainage improvements win approval from residents
Last summer TfB worked closely with residents on Tythe Gardens, Stewkley, to design a solution to flooding and drainage problems on the cul-de-sac. The work involved running new pipe work under one of the residents’ driveways – despite the disruption, all the residents were delighted with the end result and the improved drainage, and particularly praised the team carrying out the work, writing to us afterwards:

“Your work force has been extremely courteous helpful and above all very polite... I am very pleased with the road surface outside my house and the quality of workmanship that they are providing. I think that they are a credit to Bucks County Council.”

Stewkley drainage works, in progress and after

The year in brief across the whole county:

Following a very tough winter in 2017-18, which resulted in a sharp increase in defects, TfB began 2018-19 by delivering a £2 million plane and patch programme countywide. The work began as soon as the weather got milder in late March, and was organised with local Members to decide on the roads and sites to repair.

The capital maintenance programme (major works such as resurfacing) was mainly carried out over the summer months – over 120km (or 796,000sqm) of road resurfacing was laid; 3,295 old style streetlights were upgraded to LED and 100 solar powered bollards were installed. 23 major drainage improvement schemes were carried out, as were: 10 structures schemes; nine road safety schemes, and five Intelligent Transport Systems (i.e. signals) schemes.

In total, 38,000 gullies were emptied, over 20,000 defects were repaired and over 3 million square metres of grass was cut. The gritting season started unseasonably early on the 26^th October and lasted well into April, but – while long – the winter was milder overall. 

Read more: Our Year in Chiltern and South Bucks, and Our Year in High Wycombe and surrounding areas.