Highway authorities in England are still battling to recover from the impact of Storm Henk, with the further risk of surface water freezing as winter temperatures return.
Abingdon Road, a key route into Oxford, was closed at about 9:30pm on Friday (5 January) due to rising water levels and remained closed on Tuesday afternoon.
Oxford East MP Anneliese Dodds told the Oxford Mail that the closure of the road to traffic had had a ‘massive impact on both local residents and businesses’.
A spokesperson for Oxfordshire County Council said access to the city could be gained through the High Street bus gates in the meantime until the water levels are again at passable levels.
Abingdon Road remains closed and is being constantly monitored. Firefighters are still pumping water.
— Oxford City Council (@OxfordCity) January 8, 2024
The road will open as soon as water from the river has receded enough. This currently looks unlikely to be today (Monday). https://t.co/cngVErjn3n pic.twitter.com/v4g5qLLyNx
The council also said its gritters will be out across the county again as the cold weather continues and asked people to travel carefully in the conditions, 'especially as some roads are still affected by flooding'.
Lincolnshire County Council also warned drivers to be ‘extra vigilant’, adding that following the extreme weather that had seen elevated water levels from Storm Babet and Storm Henk, the plunge to sub-zero had brought a new range of road surface difficulties.
Network resilience manager Darrell Redford said: ‘What we are facing now is not normal for this time of year. Conditions are very tricky at the moment.
‘As the weather is turning a lot colder, we are also dealing with considerable amounts of water running off fields onto roads as part of the recent flooding problems. Where this is happening, we are seeing ice forming.’
Mr Redford added: ‘We are gritting more as the weather worsens – trying to mitigate the ice formation by sending the gritters out twice today at maximum spread, but this is no guarantee that we will be able to treat every issue.
‘It is worth noting that salt can still be washed away and ice can form, especially anywhere that water can be seen running across a road.’
Our gritters will be out all over the county again tonight as the cold weather continues.
— Oxfordshire County Council (@OxfordshireCC) January 9, 2024
Please travel carefully in the conditions, especially as some roads are still affected by flooding. pic.twitter.com/vf5G5eV5VF
Nottinghamshire County Council declared a major incident along the River Trent last week due to flooding and the risk of further flooding caused by Storm Henk.
Mansfield District Council’s executive mayor, Andy Abrahams, now has written to Nottinghamshire CC leader Ben Bradley for an urgent meeting, linking flooding of roads in the area with a lack of maintenance.
Mr Abrahams wrote: ‘Besides the specific flooding issues, I want to raise our concern about the general lack of routine maintenance on the road network in the Mansfield area that is exacerbating flooding problems across the District.
‘This includes the routine emptying of highway gullies so they can intercept rainwater into the sewer system instead of it forming extensive areas of ponding.’
Mr Abrahams said the majority of the debris being washed into and blocking the gullies comes from the ineffective temporary repair to potholes which are breaking up.
Highways has approached Nottinghamshire CC for comment
