A229 Loose Road in Maidstone to stay closed for longer than to examine SGN Gaslecks through the colors and the fire station

Drivers and those who live near a large route that had to be closed for emergency gas repairs must suffer even longer than nightmare than they thought for the first time.

In the past two weeks, people with wastewater and rice cuts and narrow squices had to fight when HGVs made the way after closing the loose road in Maidstone along narrow streets.

Since Friday, April 18, the A229 has been closed in both directions from Maidstone Fire Station to the Swan Inn so that the supply company SGN can dig out the street for the gas repairs.

A video recording on the day of the closure showed that cars and HGVs fell to the barriers and were forced to turn around.

It has also influenced companies, schools, bin collections and public transport.

Both the Boughton Lane and the Cripple Street were reopened on Friday, April 25, and offer drivers a certain relief, but problems remain elsewhere.

In the loose valley, the Loose Road and the Cripple Street, recycling and food waste have now been collected after a three-day delay.

As a result of the closure, dozens of trucks and drivers were sent to the rejoin loose road on a detour of 8.83 miles over Lose Road, Heath Road, Pflug Womp's Road and Sutton Road.

However, some have ignored several warning signs and ventured along the Cripple Street that drive on narrow streets that are not suitable for large vehicles.

A picture published on a local Facebook group showed a truck that tried to navigate straw Mill Hill and to come against a backlog of cars.

Driver Joanna Flynn joined the queue and said it took 45 minutes until she passed.

She added: “It was embarrassing when he managed to get through – the streets are a nightmare at the moment.”

One person commented: “I passed him when he turned into the Cripple Street. I assumed that he would turn around. Absolute idiot.”

Another added: “Someone who has no knowledge of the area and was not properly informed about street signs. Fault KCC for this ongoing catastrophe.”

After the closure, which extends from the colors to the parade of Sainsbury's shops, Mark Price noticed that wastewater was overcrowded from a shaft cover on Wednesday (April 30) at around 8.30 a.m.

“You couldn't invent that,” he said.

A spokesman for the southern water confirmed on Thursday (May 1st) that his team was sent out to examine the cause of the problem.

“A blockade was found in the sewage tube,” he said. “A tanker was used to remove the blockade that was deleted this morning (May 1st).

“The crews examine the area for potential illegal connections that could have been the cause.”

Greg Groombridge, a regional leakage manager for South East Water, said: “We know that it is frustrating that water is lost, and we are sorry for customers along the loose street, Maidstone, for the licks you have seen.

“Two freshwater leaks have been repaired within the last week, and a third near the Maidstone Fire Station is to be determined on May 6th.

“Finding and repairing leaks and saving water is one of our top priorities. We would like to thank the customers who have taken the time to tell us this leak.

“We are sorry for the disorder that cause repair work and work as soon as possible to complete this.”

UK Power Networks also reported an “error in the underground network”, which had 51 customers in Loose on Wednesday (April 30).

Although it is not connected to the road closure, it happened around 2.31 a.m. and the power supply was gradually restored at 9.10 a.m.

Although many may have thought that the problems were almost over, they are not. On Thursday, April 24th, the loose road reported the Traffic Events Mapping -Website One.Network until Tuesday, May 6th.

However, this has now been updated and pushed back to Friday, May 9th.

The SGN spokesman Waseem Hanif could not confirm the opening date for the street or a time frame for the work.

He said: “We continue to carry out urgent repairs to our gas network in the loose street area.

“Last week, our engineers completed several repairs to leaky connections and service ears near Lose Road with Cripple Street and Boughton Lane.

“This opened us again on Friday, April 25, the Cripple Street and Boughton Lane.

“However, we have to examine other gas leaks between the colors and the fire station, and the loose road remains closed for the safety of everyone.”

Kentonline asked the Kent Fire and Rescue Service as to whether their invoices had been influenced by the closure.

We were informed that their operations are not affected and that the teams are still used “by the best -placed stations for response, whereby firefighting engines use the most efficient routes to achieve incidents”.