Severn Trent to dig up roads again

Two major roads in the Black Country will be ripped up for the second time because workers failed to complete pipe replacements on time, it was revealed today.

A section of Penn Road and Goldthorn Hill in Wolverhampton will be dug up again as part of a wider £4 million Severn Trent project.

Sixteen miles of underground pipes are being replaced in the Penn area as part of the scheme and bosses today revealed more than 30 roads are still to be ripped up.

They said they were being forced to return to Penn Road and Goldthorn Hill because workers failed to complete work within original deadlines set by Wolverhampton City Council last summer.

Drivers were today warned to expect traffic delays when the work gets under way.

Goldthorn Hill will be disrupted for 40 days from April 26 to June 20.

Temporary traffic lights will again be installed in Penn Road for a fortnight in August.

And one lane of the road will be shut from its junction with Goldthorn Hill past Wynn Road.

The project in Penn Road caused long tailbacks last summer, while some traders claimed that the work had affected their businesses.

In total, 37 streets surrounding and including Penn Road remain to be dug up as part of the roadworks project.

Programme engineer Dave Kiernan said seven miles of water mains had so far been replaced, with a further nine miles to go.

He said prolonged spells of freezing weather in December had set the scheme back by six to eight weeks.

The project is due to finish in November, but Mr Kiernan hoped it would be complete by June.

He said: "We need to go back to Penn Road because we couldn't get the works finished in the school summer holidays.

"We will be going back for two weeks and it will be reduced to one lane.

"There have been delays with other works because the gas board takes priority and we have had to wait for them."

Mains in more than 60 streets are being upgraded as part of the £4 million works which started last May.