Our Highways team carrying out the regeneration project in March Town centre, Cambridgeshire, are making great progress with the new road and footway layouts. Despite carrying out unexpected essential emergency works upon the discovery of a void under the carriageway at the Dartford Road and Broad Street Junction, the team remain on schedule for our customers Cambridgeshire County Council, Fenland District Council, and the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority.
The large void was discovered during excavation operations at a depth of only one metre under the running surface, and was approximately four metres deep by a few metres wide. Upon uncovering the void at the beginning of March, the team swiftly agreed an emergency closure of the Dartford Road and Broad Street junction with Cambridgeshire County Council to ensure the safety of road users and to undertake camera investigations.
The void has now been fully excavated and structurally filled to future-proof the road’s lifecycle, enabling the road to safely reopen within six days, one day earlier than anticipated and with minimal disruption to the local community. To minimise disruption to stakeholders and residents the team provided regular communication ahead of the closure and throughout the works. The issue received a lot of local press coverage and speculation of hidden tunnels in the void or the void was as a result of collapsed sewers, however, the cause proved to be water erosion over many years.
At the end of March, ahead of the Easter weekend, the team opened the new the mini roundabout arrangement, with a temporary road surface and line markings to live traffic. The new layout replaces the original northbound lanes and traffic lights, with the ultimate aim of improving traffic flow and reducing delays at all approaches to the junction. The team have also completed the majority of the, demolished the old public toilets, finished surfacing works to the carriageway in the northern and eastern areas, and installed the new bus stop and taxi lanes.
We are now progressing with paving works and carriageway construction works on the southern and western areas, drainage works, and refurbishing the stepped access around the War Memorial near the town bridge.
We would like to thank the March community and road users for your patience and understanding whilst we continue to carry out these regeneration works in the heart of your town.
