Wood Lane To Be Dug Up Again


Emergency repairs for electricity cable

Emergency repairs to a major electricity cable beneath Wood Lane will start tomorrow (Thursday 12 November).

EDF Energy say the emergency work is needed to prevent blackouts, which could affect up to 90,000 residents, and that without the work, the cable could fail at any time.

Television Centre could also be affected and the BBC say their back-up generators could not cope with a power failure as major events like Children in Need use up huge amounts of energy.

"We hare having to repair a high-voltage underground cable," say EDF Energy. "The initial phase of the work will involve the excavation of the road outside BBC TV Centre. It will take several days to get to the cables. The complex repairs will take about four days and our contractor will then backfill the excavation and resurface the road. We aim to be finished on site by November 20.

"The company and its contractor, Laing O'Rourke, will be making every effort to carry out the work in a manner which minimises any impact on residents, businesses, motorists and pedestrians," EDF add.

The works will include temporary traffic lights and the closure of one side of the carriageway.

The work comes as the left-turn from Shepherd's Bush Green into Uxbridge Road is also closed due to essential gas works.

Diversions are already in place for motorists and several Uxbridge Road bus routes, but Transport for London have yet to announce which routes will be affected by the Wood Lane work.

Wood Lane has already been dug up more than once over the past couple of years, with worn-out Victorian water mains being replaced at the northern end of the road last May, and the northbound side being completely closed for five months last year to re-line the mains water pipes.

Commenting on the current works, Cllr Nicholas Botterill, Cabinet Member for Environment, said: “The lack of planning by EDF is mind-boggling. Although EDF mentioned this fault about a year ago, they comprehensively failed to identify the seriousness of the problem and were originally happy to wait until March 2010 to repair it. Now they are telling us that the power could go out at any minute!”

Residents and businesses with any concerns about the EDF electricity works on Wood Lane can contact the project manager 24-hours a day on 07826 534 693. For more information about the NLGA gas works call 0800 096 5678.

11 November 2009