Haywards Heath road to close for five weeks

Balcombe Road, between Burrell Road and Mill Green Road will be closed to traffic so engineers can upgrade the gas network.

UK gas distribution company, SGN are investing £650,000 to replace the old gas mains and services with a new plastic pipe to ‘ensure a continued safe and reliable gas supply to the local area’.

Engineers will be working seven days a week under the railway bridge to complete the work ‘as quickly as possible’ and a signed diversion will be in place via Cuckfield for the duration of the work.

A spokesperson from SGN said: “We understand that people can get frustrated by roadworks, however the new plastic pipe has a minimum lifespan of 80 years. This means that when the work is complete, people will continue to enjoy the benefits of a safe and reliable gas supply for years to come.

“We are using the latest technology to minimise disruption as we replace our pipes in your community and by improving the gas network, we will continue to keep homes and businesses’ in Haywards Heath safe and warm long into the future.”

A spokesman for West Sussex County Council said the council by law ‘has to allow access for public utility companies to put plant and equipment in the highway for work of this nature’ and has ‘co-ordinated the works to best fit in with the other activities on the highway that affect the traffic in that area to minimise distrupton as much as possible’.

He added: “The main is actually under the railway bridge, there is no width available here so the only option is to carry out work using a road closure.

“It will cause some temporary local inconvenience but there is no option – the work has to be done and we cannot prevent it.”

Anyone with enquiries about the works is asked to call SGN on 01444 240 700 during office hours (8am to 4pm) or on 0800 912 1700 outside these times.

Does the closure of Balcombe Road affect you? If so, get in touch with us via email: [email protected].

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