Featherstone Make a Difference Forum

It would appear that the Featherstone highway plan is possibly to make them look as bad as the hand picked property recently portrayed in the paper.
Station Lane has been signed off as complete! Really?
And then came Featherstone Lane chippings. Some one, somewhere decided it would be fun to resurface the good original surface and not the pot holed rest.
Someone must have thought they were on a roll of disruption for Featherstone roads. The cross roads at North Featherstone are not road works. They are a road closure. How can heavy traffic get around a chicane? After many weeks someone slipped up again (or not) as Loscoe Road has been shut this week. Big queues and lots of extra time just to get in and out of Featherstone. Who in their right mind would close 2 roads in the same week?

Not sure if this is correct?
It appears that due to the bad planning of the recent Featherstone highways our Fire Service cover was put in a situation where it could not operate. Where we really left with no Fire Service cover?

It had to be too good to be true especially as this is Featherstone. ::)
So after closing Sewer Bridge Lane for over a week have a guess what problems remain?
Yepp, the corner is still flooding so one can assume the surface will disintegrate within 3 months.
Worse still there are now road works digging up the new surface. Yepp the drains still don’t work at the Featherstone end. More tens of thousands of pounds wasted. Council, Cllrs? :-X

North Featherstone looks like 4 way traffic lights for about another 4 days just as Featherstone lane resurfacing and the Green Lane link road also begin. Should take about an hour to get from North Fev to Station Lane at peak time.  :(
Hey but who cares? ???
If you moan too much it’s political! How long can some people keep tier heads in the sand? ::)

To be expected that after 6 years and hundreds of thousands of pounds trying to mend the flooding problem on Sewer Bridge Lane, we have traffic lights this week and a hole in the new road.
Yep the flooding problem is still there..................
Yep a further disaster to travel time around Featherstone..................

(http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg99/yetion1/d029b516-5aa8-4fbf-b9e3-351c02600697.jpg) (http://s246.photobucket.com/user/yetion1/media/d029b516-5aa8-4fbf-b9e3-351c02600697.jpg.html)

Second best make do and Featherstone again this week. BT appear to be laying new cables from One Stop and up Station Lane. You had to shake your head as the path was dug up. Instead on lifting the block paving a still saw was used to cut a trench through the bricks, later to be filled with tarmac. At least it matches the crap job on filling the gulley’s.

A sad but major incident on Station Lane on Friday. A driver driving down Station Lane passed out at the wheel and hit the barriers and traffic light pole outside Dransfields. The vehicle then overturned blocking Station Lane for some time.

(http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg99/yetion1/DSC_0014.jpg) (http://s246.photobucket.com/user/yetion1/media/DSC_0014.jpg.html)

I am sorry but I have had to grin for the last week watching the re-surfacing works being carried out on Wilson and Maxwell Street off Station Lane. Featherstone gets 2nd best again! Why?
Where else is a road recovered without straightening sunken curbs, major pot holes being filled, grates being raised and adhesive covering applied before re-surfacing. Considering the time it has taken in batches of tarmac you could be forgiven for thinking that there is a big road job somewhere possibly Wakefield and our roads are being mended with what is left over each day.
It then gets worse apart from the tarmac coming apart like gravel and the road surface almost to the curb top in places. What appears to be spray painted cross’s have appeared on the road followed today by workmen with hydraulic picks digging the road back up. You could think that someone has made a big mistake or the new surface looked to good and was showing up the town. But hey ho it’s only Featherstone.
If the person responsible really wishes to do as bad a job as possible travellers are still parked on the Green Lane Industrial estate just behind the sub-station advertising such works undertaken.

How many men and how many times does it take Yorkshire Water to mend a burst water pipe and fix a sunken road?
In 2014 Sewer Bridge Lane was finally closed (after 3 years of closures) for 2 weeks to replace water mains pipes in conjunction with WMDC highways improving the road. Since re-opening the road was reduced to traffic lights a further 3 times in 2014 due to drain issues.
How many times in 2015 will the road be closed, so far once to fix the drain. Yesterday and today 2 sets of traffic lights operating. One set by YEDL to trim the highway sides as the trees have snapped power cables. A second set to dig up the new road again for a burst water main. Meanwhile there is still a pond at either side of the road that is almost level. Quick sand springs to mind with vehicles acting like wacker plates.
And just to make the count 3 the new Green Lane link is also again dug up and has traffic lights. That’s just before you get to Station Lane and BT digging up the same trench someone else dug 6 months ago.
Suppose it just confirms all new roads stop at Fev, but who cares unless you’re always in the queue!
 ::)

Catching up with this year’s Sewerbridge Road closures this year.
No 4. Feb traffic lights fitted over 2 weeks to clear the verges.
No 5. Saturday/ Monday 4th/5th July. After Heavy rain the road flooded as usual. The back pressure in the drains blew back up the manholes and lifted the metal manhole grates on to the road. A driver hit one of these grates and crashed. He has received serious injuries to his back with complications.
No 6. 22nd July. The new mains water pipe running from Sheffield to Leeds has another fault. The road is on traffic lights for up to a week while it is dug up in at least 2 locations.
Only another few £10s of thousands wasted and Featherstone suffering. However a couple more and there should be enough for a public enquiry application. Yes that should get some blinked persons attention at this point.
 ::)

Hurray!
Just 2 weeks of traffic lights this time that have now gone................

That easy..........................

Na!

The 2 weeks were apparently just for tests. Sounds like the pipe has to come up. :(

And this is nothing to do with the flooding which is still a separate problem. Not a Cllr in sight ::) :P

Good job Yorkshire Water cleaned the drains or Featherstone would have flooded more than it did.  However Featherstone did flood and in some not surprising new areas! The Purston OAP bungalows pipe that was broke must not have been mended as the sand bags that don’t exist came out again and are still there.
An interesting comment was that all properties that flood must declare so when selling property. If you don’t declare then the buyer can claim. So basically because of inadequate drains home owners will lose 10% of value. Who is liable for the loss?

No8: Yet another 2 days set of traffic lights this week on Sewerbridge Lane. I wonder if we will get to 10 in the this years record? But hey no one who should, cares! ::)

No9. Almost missed the day and a half of traffic lights this week to dig a new hole. The structure of the road must be well compromised by now. It should start breaking up anytime. But hey, who cares? ::)

So a year on from just over £500k spent to fix the problems and the road has been dug up 9 times and has been closed several times due to flooding. Wouldn't it have been more productive to give Featherstone the £500k and ignore the original problem?  ::)

Oh dear, Oh dear as I read the next plan and shake my head and grin  ;D. At last SOME of the paths on Station Lane are to be repaired. Na , it couldn't be that easy. The paths proposed are also due to be dug up just after they are finished as electrical and water services are under "on going repairs". Their might be a small window for a political glory picture.
Their must be a plan to destroy Station Lane as also included is the narrowing of the road. Probably the only way to tackle the speeding problems that wont have any affect.  ::)

(http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg99/yetion1/2016%20written%20path%20plan.jpg) (http://s246.photobucket.com/user/yetion1/media/2016%20written%20path%20plan.jpg.html)

(http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg99/yetion1/Station%20Lane%202016%20path%20plan.jpg) (http://s246.photobucket.com/user/yetion1/media/Station%20Lane%202016%20path%20plan.jpg.html)

How long does it take to change a pipe in Featherstone? Northern Gas recon about 2 weeks. Get ready for Station Lane closed for 2 weeks and more weeks later. There is a meeting on Tuesday at the Last orders. Classic mistake there is no advertised time. After a call the meeting is between 4pm and 6pm.
My opinion, how the hell does it take 2 weeks to change a pipe? ???

(http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg99/yetion1/Northern%20gas%20notice%20Feb%2016.jpg) (http://s246.photobucket.com/user/yetion1/media/Northern%20gas%20notice%20Feb%2016.jpg.html)

It rained fairly hard this week but not to the extremes we are seeing now regularly each year. Common side lane was brought to snail pace as the road flooded as usual. Drain covers again blew off as the manholes overflowed. The same manholes that had caused serious injury over a year ago to a driver.
A week of traffic lights on Wakefield Road for drain cleaning didn't help as the road flooded quicker than ever. The new pop factory development will definitely flood Priory Road as the council reports say on the planning application.
Had to laugh as I was stopped at a red light on Wakefield Road drain cleaning. Looked like a piece of sewer pipe got sucked up and pulled out of the man hole. A big chunk a man could just carry. What made me grin is the drain cleaning man picked it up, walked across the grass to the LINPAC beck and threw it in. Wonder how many more bits went in? ::)

Day one and not a busy day due to the Holidays but as predicted a complete disaster.
Lets take a look at the botch up.
You will read from the letter given by Northern gas that the works are for 2 weeks. Why do the signs say 3 weeks?
Council preparation? So far none other than ignoring genuine concerns. Green Lane needs cones to stop parking. Council say NO. Road signs that say 1 hour from Ackton to LINPAC. Council say no.
It appears as the crap began hitting the good people at WMDC an effort was made last week to create a shuttle bus service from Green lane to Station Lane. As it takes 28 days to tender the contract the bus should be running in about 5 weeks.
The cost to Featherstone retail shops looks about £50 to £200 per shop per day with deliveries cancelled to anywhere over the lines.
Meanwhile looks like the workmen are on a 9 am to 4pm shift. Not 24hours at it should.
One Taxi man tells the story so very well on Facebook with his video. Not sure if this link will work for you all.
Today was just a sample. Worse is to come. As usual not a Cllr in sight...... ::)

https://www.facebook.com/ferret40/videos/vb.1611897076/10207525213961101/?type=2&theater

It would be nice to have a night off reporting about the Lane closure but hey this is WMDC we are dealing with and a gas company who think they can pull the wool over our eyes. ::)
WMDC received complaints are running high but no action other than 2 attempts today to relocate a sign. If you have tried to drive up station lane you will have met one lane almost blocked with road closure signs. After several near misses and a scrapped vehicle contractors we made to alter the signs. 1st attempt was to move one sign 12 " in and put another in front of it. Attempt 2 was to pull the signs to the curb. The 2nd go at least is reasonable. Don't you just love the planning and lack of checks we are paying for! ::)
Common Side lane still a disaster and a battle on Green Lane. A HGV driver trying to force his way was forced to reverse to allow traffic.
As usual not a Cllr in sight ::)

Well That was week one and I think it fair to say the Featherstone Cllrs have done a wonderful job. By keeping their heads in the sand they have definitely damaged Featherstone to the tune of about £40k of lost custom. The Labour party plan of a Featherstone ghost town is right on track. ::)

Week 3 and total chaos. Most of the day has seen traffic queues all over Featherstone. This peeked tonight with every road leading in to Featherstone blocked by the biggest traffic jags Featherstone has seen in many years.

But that's not all. Station Lane was blocked this morning for 10 minutes due to a parked car and poor new footpath designs. Ross travel are based on Allison Street and have been for many years. The new footpath that extends in to the road now means that buses have to pull over the road to be able to turn in. Today a parked car and a JCB were blocking this and traffic became blocked. Not until the over vehicles were removed could traffic get by.

And there is lots more. WMDC were informed before they began bodging up the paths that the services underneath them were cream crackerd. Already the gas company at the top of the lane are looking to dig up the new paths. Best of all is the electric company. Today for the 3rd time in a week there was a power cut in station lane that cut off about 90 properties commercial and domestic. The fault has been found and a temporary fix made. The repair now looks to be going to follow the new path. As fast as the new path is laid it will be dug up by the national grid followed by gas.

As usual the cllrs that were told this would happen are nowhere to be seen ::)

A reply has appeared from Northern Gas,

We are due to finish the project today, we endeavour to be off site and the road to be open as usual by the end of business today.  We have another project starting on Wilson Street tomorrow which may require temporary traffic lights to be put on Station Lane on Thursday as we will require a crossing closure on Station Lane.  This project is due to last 2 weeks and the temp traffic lights will only be required for one week of this, there is a meeting taking place with the highways authority tomorrow to see if they will allow us to use the temporary traffic lights so until this has been confirmed I unfortunately cannot give you a guarantee on the method of works, I will however let you know as soon as I have feedback regarding the meeting.

A fun set of traffic lights has arrived for up to a week on Station Lane. At peek times everything stops. The new rat run is around the precinct full of pedestrians.
An interesting point raised today. Why is so much effort being made to apparently get a gas pipe to the Old KwikSave site? ???

Sadly yet another tragic and also fatal accident on the flooding corner of Sewer Bridge Lane,

http://www.pontefractandcastlefordexpress.co.uk/news/local-news/biker-from-bradford-killed-in-crash-near-featherstone-1-7892948

You can tell its Easter as for the 3rd year running Featherstone roads come to a standstill due to roadwork’s booked for the school holidays. I should have commented earlier as many folk in Fev had all ready noticed that Station Lane is a no go area twice a day at peak times without roadwork’s due to the new quickly growing population. You just have to love Featherstone as she appears to always fight back just when those who wish she would not push her. This week Fev was stretched to the limit with road work passes that have every road in and out of Fev blocked by traffic lights. Just one problem would be a disaster. The disaster struck on Wednesday afternoon as the water main again burst this time on the Wakefield road junction. Fev has been gridlocked most of the day and has probably cost business and peoples holidays many tens of thousands of pounds.
Ironically for those who have ignored the out of date services in Fev even when given the facts the locals are catching up. It makes a pleasant change to talk to people who are discussing the problem and following the growing concerns that Fev infrastructure cannot cope with the increased usage.
 ::)

Dont you just love our council. After a day of complaints Yorkshire water true to their word have fixed the problem at the cross roads by 9.15am this morning. Now all the workmen have to wait until 3.30pm until someone from WMDC turns up to switch the traffic lights back on. Meanwhile not a call from our Labour Cllrs ::) :-X

Looks like the link road / bypass from Linpac traffic lights to Ackworth is many steps on. A mixture of possible new HS2, phase 2 of the Girnhill Estate and Nostel priory compensation is going to bring about this road sooner than the plan that was taken out of the UDP years ago. It’s an interesting area of land for many reasons good and bad. At the end of the day a huge and full development of the area on an area of land steeped in history and peppered with bell pits and tunnels. Sadly the one thing for sure is Featherstone history will not be preserved in the new green belt building gold rush.

There must be some serious money flying about...

http://www.pontefractandcastlefordexpress.co.uk/news/featherstone-by-pass-campaign-could-get-280k-boost-1-8683804

Apparently it took only 2 weeks to pass the grant. Its a shame any money the road will make for Featherstone will again vanish like the £3.5 million plus missing so far from the new housing. But hey who cares? ::)