INADEQUATE and old sewers are to be replaced in a £2M scheme to stop flooding of homes in the Wordsworth Road area of Accrington.
United Utilities began the works this week, which will see up to eight months worth of roadworks in the area as part of a £2.9Bn investment programme in water and waste water across the North West.
Temporary road closures will affect Wordsworth Road, Dunny Shop Avenue and Clarence Road.
A total of 15 homes are on the company’s "at risk" register as properties which have flooded at least once – floods which sparked protests from residents.
A 600 cubic metre underground storage tank will be sited within the grounds of Mount Carmel School as part of the scheme, and work has already begun on installing a new sewer pipe in the car park behind the school, during the summer holidays.
United Utilities’ project coordinator Mark Clinton said: "Sewer flooding can be an awful experience, so this investment will come as a welcome relief to residents in the area. By boosting the capacity of the sewer system, we can make sure the water has somewhere to go when the heavens open.
"We are doing everything we can to keep disruption to a minimum during the work and we plan to work with the local school on visits to the construction site as part of our education programme to explain why we need to place this large tank within school grounds, how the sewer network operates and perhaps we might motivate a few of the students to think about engineering as a career. Ultimately, the scheme will spell peace of mind for local residents - and we ask that they bear with us while we get the work done."
Open excavations to replace sewers and manholes will be carried out all the way up to the junction with Willows Lane from now until late September. The street could also be the first in Lancashire to be fitted with the utility company’s new manhole covers.
