List of road closures as work begins for major Bewdley flood defence programme
A series of road closures will take place across a notorious Bewdley flooding spot as part of work on a new flood defence.
The Beales Corner Flood Risk Management Scheme is set to help the town, which has suffered greatly from flooding over the past few years, by adding a combination of demountable flood barriers and permanent raised walls with glass panels.
The Government has allocated £6.2 million of growth funding for the Bewdley Left Bank Flood Risk Management scheme and work has now begun, with the closure of a road running alongside the River Severn.
Stourport Road, which connects to the B4190 Kidderminster Road, has been closed in both directions between Kidderminster Road and Westbourne Street to allow for a temporary working platform to be constructed as well as the establishment of the main construction site.
It will be closed for around 18 to 22 months until the main construction phase is complete in 2025.
The Environment Agency said that access to Millside Court would be kept while the working platform is constructed, and conversations have taken place with residents.
It marks the start of four weeks of work on Beales Corner, where flooding has occurred each year from 2020 to 2022, with homes and businesses hit by the flooding.
Other works taking place will see the kerb at the corner of the bridge and Riverside North lowered to make the road junction wider, which will start on August 14 and see a traffic light system in place and take no more than five days.
Additionally, the water main at Load Street and Kidderminster Road will be relocated on August 29, with the road closed for around four weeks in that time.
A spokesman for the Environment Agency said: "A water main is located where the foundation of the new flood wall needs to be constructed and it is therefore necessary to relocate it.
"Severn Trent Water (STW) wrote to residents recently to notify them that they had obtained a Temporary Traffic Road Order (TTRO) to close the Kidderminster Road at the junction with Load Street for 4 weeks from August 21.
"However, after further consideration, work will not start until after the Bank Holiday weekend.
"The road will therefore now be closed from Tuesday, August 29
"The contractor will be working long days during daylight hours and the access to Riverside North will be kept for much of the time. Pedestrian access will be maintained at all times.
"With the information that the project team know about before the commencement of works, it is expected that the work will last approximately 10 to 15 days, to include weekend working.
"Whilst not anticipated, should the project team encounter any issues whilst the ground is excavated (e. g. unmapped water supply connections) this may result in the work taking longer.
"The contractor will be working to open the roads as soon as it is possible."
Finally, the main construction phase is set to take place in October along the riverside at Beales Corner, which means the closure of Stourport road and a reduction to one carriageway on the Kidderminster Road, with possibly up to two years of work to take place.
No decision has, as yet, been made, and the Environment Agency spokesman said there would be a public meeting to discuss the traffic management plans.
The spokesman said: "A large scale engineering work will be taking place in a difficult built environment along the riverside at Beales Corner.
"To do this safely, the Stourport Road will need to be closed and the Kidderminster Road will need to be reduced to one carriageway. It is estimated that this could be for 18 to 22 months.
"Discussions are ongoing on whether there should be traffic lights, or a one-way system set up, either going in or out of the town.
"No decision has been taken to date and there will be a further update on this by the end of August.
"There is a public meeting with businesses and residents at St George’s Hall in Bewdley on August 17 at 5pm to discuss the traffic management options during the main construction phase of the project."
The Environment Agency’s Citizen Space will be updated with the latest information throughout the works at consult.environment-agency.gov.uk/west-midlands/bealesfrms
