Highway Works Content

Highway Maintenance

Weeping Cross roundabouts

At the double mini roundabouts at Weeping Cross, the carriageway surfacing is in very poor condition.  This area will be totally resurfaced and the footways will be resurfaced with micro asphalt.

Important drainage repairs and localised replacement of kerbing will also be carried out.

New road signs will also be installed.

Weeping Cross to Queensville Roundabout

Very little maintenance of the road structure and highway drainage has been carried out on the Weeping Cross junction and Radford Bank in recent decades.  A factor in this is that there is a major impact on the highway network throughout Stafford whenever work is carried out in this location.

Consequently, certain parts of the carriageway and highway drainage are now in a poor condition.

These will be repaired based on their current condition.  Although this will not result in continuous resurfacing of the whole road, it should provide the road with a renewed lifespan.

Footway patching and resurfacing with micro asphalt will also be carried out following localised repairs to kerbing.

Queensville roundabout 

Retexturing and/or resurfacing of the road surface to improve skidding resistance will be carried out on Queensville roundabout.  

Queensville Roundabout to St Leonards Avenue

Between Queensville roundabout and St Leonards Avenue, important drainage repairs will be carried out, working collaboratively with Severn Trent Water.  This will be followed by carriageway resurfacing between the roundabout and the railway bridge.  There will also be local carriageway repairs and micro asphalt laid at a later date, in the stretch to St Leonards Avenue.

Localised repairs to kerbing will also be carried out, followed by micro asphalt surfacing of the footways.

Traffic Signals

The traffic light units on the A34 at Riverway, Ranshaw Drive and St Leonards Avenue junctions are nearing end of their life and need to be replaced. Some new street furniture will be installed, along with new traffic signal controller units which will be more sophisticated, reliable and efficient.

The changes to the traffic light system also include the addition of bus priority facilities along the A34 corridor in and out of Stafford.

This will improve bus journey times along the corridor.  By detecting where the buses are using real-time data that feeds the passenger information, the system can delay or bring forward a signal change to help buses run to schedule.

Lighting

Within the corridor of the LUF scheme in Stafford, there are improvements and renewals to the road lighting, some of which are funded by the LUF scheme and some of which are part of the Staffordshire Road Lighting PFI.

Much of the LUF works is now complete, as it has been possible to carry this out without impacting on the main traffic flows.  This work is upgrading the lanterns to pedestrian friendly energy efficient street lighting.

Most of the PFI work is in more traffic sensitive locations, eg Radford Bank.  Here E.On are replacing age-expired lanterns and structurally defective columns.  E.On are working together with Staffordshire County Council’s other contractors to work within the LUF traffic management arrangements to avoid additional road works.

Bridge Maintenance

Queensville Railway Bridge

Queensville Railway Bridge is to be refurbished with the following works:

• Localised plate strengthening of wrought iron girders to remedy areas of corrosion in the outer girders
• Re-painting of the girders with a new protective system to replace the decades old flaking paint
• Repointing of masonry brick parapets and jack arches due to the deterioration of existing mortar which has led to water ingress and corrosion of the outer girders
• Devegetation of the structure to maintain its structural integrity
• Re-waterproofing of footway areas.  Localised failures of the waterproofing have led to water ingress at the sides of the bridge deck which has caused damage to mortar joints and corrosion of the outer girders
• Protection of the parapets with a new configuration at the edge of the footways, featuring high containment kerbing, reinforcing ground beams and pedestrian guardrails. This is to guard against accidental vehicle loading, which does not meet the current standards.
• Improvements to the access steps, with new pedestrian guardrails and replacement of damaged concrete areas on steps and plinths.

Radford River Bridge

Significant maintenance work will be carried out on the Grade II listed Radford River Bridge as part of the LUF project; in particular on the stonework.

Stonework repairs will include:

• Replacement of significantly weathered sandstone columns which are supporting the parapet wall
• Realignment and repointing of the leaning southern parapet wall, to maintain its structural integrity
• Patch repairs of eroded pieces of stonework to maintain its structural integrity

As well as this, the stonework joints will be repointed with lime mortar to maintain the structural integrity and behaviour of the bridge.

Provided listed building consent is received, a new bridge drainage system will be installed  to prevent water ingress onto the stonework which would cause damage and deterioration of mortar joints

Some devegetation and removal of graffiti from the structure will also be carried out.

Radford River Footbridge

The metal parapet fences on the footbridge alongside Radford River Bridge are corroded and will be replaced as part of the scheme.

Measures to Encourage Cycling and Walking

Baswich Double Mini Roundabouts Junction

The footways around the junction will be upgraded, including improved informal pedestrian crossing facilities on the north and west sides. 

Radford Bank

Here, improvements for walkers and cyclists will include the provision of a controlled crossing by the Aldi supermarket, upgrading the existing puffin crossing to a toucan crossing at Meadow Ridge, to enable cyclists to cross as well as pedestrians.  There will also be a shared cycle route between the river footbridge and the Meadow Ridge crossing on the west side.

A new 1.5 metre wide advisory cycle track will be created on the uphill side of the existing carriageway between Meadow Ridge and the Baswich mini roundabouts. 

Footways will also be resurfaced along this whole stretch.

Queensville Roundabout

At Queensville roundabout we are working with Queen's Retail Park to provide improved pedestrian and cycle crossings at the entrance to the retail park. The footway/cycleway will also be widened to pass behind the bus shelter with support from Queen's Retail Park, who own the land.

Between Queensville roundabout and Queensville Avenue, work is progressing to change the present mandatory cycle route to a partially segregated lane, if this proves to be practicable in this location. Partial segregation involves fixing segregating features to the road surface to deter motor vehicles from encroaching into the cycle lane.

Ranshaw Drive

Near the eastern entrance to The Hough Retail Park, as Ranshaw Drive meets Lichfield Road, the existing toucan crossing on Ranshaw Drive will be upgraded to provide an early start for cyclists, together with associated cycle route improvements to improve connectivity at this junction.

General Cycle Improvements

It is intended that secure cycle parking will be provided at retail centres.

General Bus Stop Improvements

Changes to bus stops will be made along the corridor, including improved real-time passenger information.

Collaborative work

Other organizations own or operate equipment within the highway that needs to be repaired or upgraded.  As part of this project, Staffordshire County Council will be working together with several organizations so that the work can be completed in a co-ordinated way, thereby reducing the number of times that there will be roadworks on the A34 corridor and reducing the total time for traffic management.

We are working together with the following organizations:

National Grid

National Grid are upgrading their electricity supply cables around Queensville roundabout.  Some footway sections (without impact on traffic flows) have already been completed in the early part of 2024.  Laying cables across the roundabout will be done within the highway works traffic management system, co-ordinated with the highway works.

E.On

Lighting column and lantern replacements need to be carried out by Staffordshire County Council’s PFI partner, E.On, as part of their long-term contract.  This work on Radford Bank and Weeping Cross has been delayed so that it takes place in co-ordination with the highway works, using the same traffic management system.  

Severn Trent Water

STW will be working together with the county council to repair their buried drainage system at Queensway.

Buses

Real-time passenger information is in operation on the A34 corridor in Stafford, enabling passengers to see when their bus will actually arrive, but this will be improved in the course of the project and the waiting facilities will be refreshed.

Bus priority facilities will also be introduced into the traffic lights system.  This means that the traffic lights can react to the position of a bus and adjust the cycle so that the bus can run to the timetabled schedule.

These improvements will make bus journeys clearer and more reliable for users and consequently will encourage more people to use buses.