Blitz on blocked drains on main road in Wolverhampton

Wolverhampton City Council has been drawing up plans to tackle the long-running problem of roads flooding during periods of heavy rainfall.

Flood water often bursts out of overflowing gullies and sewers, leaving many roads and pavements covered in water.

At a meeting today traffic management bosses will discuss plans to remedy the situation - but the work is likely to involve stretches of roads coned off and the installation of temporary traffic lights.

This will lead to more delays for thousands of drivers, who have become well versed in dealing with roadworks in the city. A number of roads around Wolverhampton have been sealed off for weeks due to projects to change the traffic flow and revamp the St Georges and The Royal Metro stops.

A mile long section of Birmingham New Road is one of the areas the authority is set to focus on. The road features dozens of sealed drains on both sides of the carriageway.

Liberal democrat campaigner Tom Stokes said he first raised concerns over the poor state of drains in the Springvale area last year.

"The drainage system is an absolute mess," Mr Stokes said. "Birmingham New Road - a main route in and out of the city - regularly floods whenever there is persistent rainfall.

"There must be hundreds of blocked drains like this all around the city."

Wolverhampton City Council spokesman Ian Bennett confirmed the authority was aware of the problems and has pledged to tackle the issue throughout the city.

He said: "This situation isn't peculiar to Wolverhampton, it happens everywhere in the country.

"The reason why we have to plan the work in advance is that some of affected gullies are on either side of the central reservation, not at the kerbs. The only safe way to service them is to cone-off the affected lanes.

"To protect both the cleaning crews and motorists, this means putting in an effective temporary traffic management system and also arranging some night working in an effort to reduce potential delays at busy times.

"In the case of the Birmingham New Road, though surface water is getting away we know that some of the gullies are blocked and we're arranging to deal with this problem."

Blocked drains have regularly caused flooding in other areas of the city.

This week the council is due to send out workers to clean out the drains at the junction of Keepers Lane and Wergs Road in Tettenhall.

Tettenhall Regis Councillor Jonathan Yardley said: "Most of Tettenhall is thankfully flood free due to the installation of attenuation tanks over the last 10 years.

"But the drains at the end of Keepers Lane have caused problems for years. It is vital they are cleared because when we get heavy rain the water reaches such a high level it can encroach towards people's houses."

A full schedule of the works has not yet been released.