MUD being dragged from HS2 sites by work vehicles and “fouling” public highways has forced other road users to resort to washing their cars “after every journey”.
People using the A412 and A413 face an “appalling” situation on the roads created by HS2-related vehicles that fail to clean their wheels before venturing onto public highways.
Contractor Align incurred the wrath of two councillors during a Denham, Gerrards Cross and Chalfonts Community Board meeting, with one suggesting operations should cease until it is sorted.
The same councillor said he thought the whole project should just “pack up and go home”.
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“We have an appalling situation with mud on the A412…and also on the A413,” said Cllr Julia Walsh, chairperson of Denham Parish Council.
“Every resident’s car…is absolutely covered in mud.
“There is absolutely no excuse for that kind of situation. Every resident has got to wash their car after every journey.”
Cllr Walsh said lorries are parking by garages, on residential slip roads and near children’s playgrounds in the Denham area, “gouging out” parts of the A40 and the A412.
She demanded Align prohibit its vehicles from using roads in the area.
Cllr Des Bray in Chalfont St Giles came slicing in, saying: “We had a representative from Align visit one of our meetings a couple of years ago, who assured us there would be wheel washing facilities at every site and no lorries would be fouling the roads.
“If they did, he said we could stop the works. Why are there no wheel cleaning services?
“There are vehicles coming off your sites [on the A412/A413], they might not be lorries, but they’re still fouling the roads.
“They should all, I don’t care how small they are, be cleaned up to ensure they don’t mess up our roads.
“If not, you should stop working. You keep making promises, you don’t keep them.”
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Duncan Fallon from Align agreed there should be wheel washing and said he was under the impression it was being offered at “all sites”. He encouraged the public to report any mud on the roads.
“It’s a waste of time [reporting it],” said Cllr Bray. “Because no matter what promises you people make you just foul up within a couple of weeks and I think the best thing… would be for HS2 to pack up and go home.”
Mr Fallon said he was “appalled” by the mud on the A412, that it was “dangerous” and that he had already contacted the clerk at Denham Parish Council to acknowledge the issue.
However, he said he believed this had originated from a farm in Denham.
He added: “We don’t currently have HGVs going to and from the south portal using the A412, they come via the M25 slip roads.
“That being said we do always send roads sweepers down whenever there’s any issue noted, and it is a regular complaint,” he said.
His associate Emma Gaydon vowed to have the A413 issue “dealt with”.
Mr Fallon said he was in talks with Buckinghamshire Council to address the mud problem, adding “it cannot carry on”.
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