Essential work to repair a gas pipe in Bamford Road, Heywood, will begin on Monday (11th March), and it will require temporary traffic lights.
Cadent, which manages the local gas network, has found a leak on an underground pipe, near Bamford Road’s junction with River Street and Clay Bank Street.
Using cameras to pinpoint the source, its engineers found that roots from an established tree have damaged the pipe.
This has resulted in gas leaking out, and water getting in, and this is impacting the supply of gas to nearby houses.
Chris Campbell, Customer Operations Area Manager, Cadent, said: “Cutting down the tree is just not an option, so the only way we can fix this is to connect the houses into a pipe that runs on the opposite side of Bamford Road. We’ll put in a new section of pipe between the two locations.
“This means we need to ‘open cut’ in the carriageway, and therefore need to manage the flow of traffic around our work area.
“We’ll work on one side of the road, and then switch to the other, so that vehicles can still travel both ways – but with traffic lights.
“We will start the work after rush-hour on Monday [11th March] and aim to complete everything by the end of the week.
“We appreciate this is far from ideal, particularly given there are other substantial roadworks taking place in the area.
“We are monitoring this leak regularly, and it is under control. We can only do that as a short-term measure. We need to carry out these repairs both for safety reasons and to protect gas supply to these homes.”
Cadent has consulted Rochdale Council’s highways department, while customer teams are notifying local homes, schools and businesses. Bus operators have been informed and it is expected that buses should still be able to travel in these works.
In addition to the traffic lights, there will be no access from Bamford Road onto River Street at this location, and vice versa – there are two entrances to River Street and the other is not affected. There will also be no access onto Clay Bank Street from Bamford Road, and vice versa.
*If you smell gas, act immediately and call the national gas emergency service on 0800 111 999, day or night. Do not assume it is related to this – it may not be and needs to be checked.
Rochdale Council's website has details of other nearby roadworks in Bury Road and the Queens Park area
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