14 October 2008
Residents in Kingston's Hawks Road area will benefit from a new flood relief scheme, to help protect them from the misery of sewer flooding during severe weather.
The work, which starts on 20 October 2008, will reduce the risk of flooding at 26 homes as well as Hawks Road itself. A new storm water sewer will be constructed to deal with excess flows resulting from heavy rainfall. It is part of the £8.4million London Road project - a major flooding alleviation scheme that has already benefited 60 properties in Kingston.
Andrew Wolfe, Project Manager for Thames Water, said:
"Residents in Hawks Road have suffered from the distress of sewer flooding for many years.
"The impacts of climate change, population growth and development are putting increasing pressure on the sewer network. This essential scheme will help protect these residents from flooding and give them peace of mind at times of heavy rainfall.
"As with any works of this nature, short-term disruption is inevitable, but the long-term benefits for the community will far outweigh this. We will do everything we can to minimise disruption as much as possible."
The scheme will require a rolling closure of Hawks Road between Cambridge Road and Portman Road. Traffic and bus diversion routes will be agreed with the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames. The work is scheduled for completion in March 2009.
Thames Water is committed to reducing sewer flooding. In the long-term, the aim is to virtually eliminate flooding resulting from lack of capacity in the sewers. Thames hopes to move towards this aim with its largest ever investment programme. These proposals have been submitted as part of the company's business plan for 2010 to 2015 to its economic regulator, Ofwat. Thames Water is currently investing £320 million on sewer flooding alleviation schemes to help protect 10,000 properties by the end of 2010.
