As you will recall, the A375 on Vicarage Road in Sidmouth has recently undergone some extensive patching work, which is aimed at getting us through the next few months with a major scheme programmed for late January 2022 through to March 2022.

This scheme has come about due to there being a very thin layer of surfacing/asphaltic material forming the A375 highway. This layer is overlying made ground/sandy silty clay material with many utility services such as gas, water and electricity which are very high in places. It has been patched several times in the past.
Due to the location, the position of the utility services and the likely length of time and disruption a full highway reconstruction would need, the proposed works are not full highway reconstruction but will aim to provide a better surface and reduce the frequent patching works so far experienced.

The work involved will be carried out in sections, with the contractor completing one section before opening up the next section of the work. The work to the shop area in Radway would be undertaken at night with the remaining section (mainly residential areas) to be completed in the daytime. This is in order to maximise time on site and minimise noise disturbance at night.

The contractor will maintain 24/7 access for the post office and Openreach and has made contact with EDDC in order to coordinate the waste collections.

And so now we can reveal the total length of the scheme will cover the length of highway from Temple Street at the junction with Temple Gardens, Vicarage Road, Radway, High Street and the full section of Fore Street to the Esplanade.

Further communications will commence next month and will include a dedicated webpage, letters to relevant residents, businesses advising of impending condition survey and providing information on the main surfacing work including the link to the webpage, and information also issued via social media and press release with update to the Town Council.

And finally an update on the new Eco Living bus shelters that I’ve been working on securing for Sidmouth with our Transport Coordination team along with Fernbank who having completed their survey of existing shelters proposes that this be a two or even three-stage process with stage one seeing the:

Sidford Road inbound, adjacent to Drakes Avenue (outside Lockyer Lodge) seeing the removal of the existing shelter which is in a very poor state of repair, and replaced with a three-bay advertising parallel Eco Half Living Roof shelter.

Sidford Road inbound, adjacent to Coulsdon Road, removal of existing shelter which is also in a very poor state of repair, replace with a three-bay advertising Eco Living Roof shelter.

Sidford Road outbound, at Manstone. This is the shelter that is damaged on one of its bottom panels. Remove existing shelter which is in a very poor state of repair, replace with a three-bay advertising Eco Living Roof shelter.
Fernbank needs a new shelter-sized roof (thinner roof) to fit onto some of the narrow footways going forward, in some of their other proposed locations.