As forecast by Marlborough News Online, the A4 west of Marlborough will be closed for four nights in October with controlled traffic for two further nights. And Marlborough itself will have road works during October’s half-term week.
The surface of the A4 is badly worn and some stretches no longer meet the standards for skid resistance. In the past the road has been repaired by laying fresh bitumen and grit. This kind of treatment is no longer feasible.
A one kilometre stretch from The Bell pub eastwards towards Marlborough has to be completely removed and resurfaced. The old surface will be removed during the nights of Tuesday, October 4 to Thursday, October 6, with a traffic light controlled flow in alternate directions between 7 pm and 6am.
That stretch of the A4 will be totally closed for the relaying of the new road surface during the nights of Monday, October 10 to Thursday, October 13 from 7pm to 6am.
Access to West Overton using Bell Lane and Church Hill will not be possible. Diversion signs will be put up two weeks before the work starts. The main diversion will be through Wroughton and Chiseldon.
To discourage traffic diverting south of the A4, through the villages, the roads off the A4 – to East Kennet, Lockeridge and Clatford – will have signs stating “No route for Diverted Traffic.”
The new road surface should last for twenty years and a further stretch will be removed and resurfaced in 2012.
Marlborough mini-roundabout
Another resurfacing job being done in October is centred on the mini-roundabout at the junction of the A4 and Pewsey Bridge Road – outside the Master’s Lodge entrance to the college. The work will extend along the A4 on the south side of St Peter’s as far as the junction with Hyde Lane.
This work will be carried out over three nights from Monday, October 24, from 6pm until midnight. Access from the west into the High Street will be open along the branch of the High Street that runs from Hatto’s barber shop to The Sun.
The diversion for traffic going westward will, again, be via Chiseldon and Wroughton.
Watch this space
Later in October, road works will close the Swindon road (A346) between Chiseldon (at the Esso petrol station) and the Swindon-Wiltshire boundary. These works are expected to start on October 30. We will publish details as soon as they are known.