Ufton, Offchurch and Cubbington

This page has been archived. Please visit the new works in your area page to see the latest news and information.

You can find information about HS2 works and engagement events in your local area on this page.

As well as local information on this page, don't forget the site has information about route wide support, opportunities and projects such as community funding opportunities and our green corridor .

Upcoming HS2 enabling works in areas between Burton Green and Southam in Warwickshire will sometimes result in temporary changes to public rights of way (including footpaths and bridleways) and cycleways.

The following information is intended to provide a general overview of enabling works impacts, and is subject to change. We will endeavour to keep this information as up-to-date as possible.

To help minimise impacts, HS2 contractors will:

· Put diversions in place where required, and where it’s possible and safe to do so

· Install and maintain local signs to inform people of temporary closures and diversions

· Issue public notices and news alerts as required for upcoming closures.

Where HS2 contractors are impacting an official public right of way, we work with the relevant local authority to obtain consent or permission for any closures or diversions. Sometimes we impact a ‘permissive route’ – an unofficial footpath or bridleway – which does not require the same consent process.

A map of public footpaths, bridleways, restricted byways and byways in Warwickshire is available at the Warwickshire County Council website

Cubbington

The path known as 129d off Mill Lane has been temporarily diverted at the edge of South Cubbington Wood. The diversion will be in place while enabling works take place along 129d for site set-up, archaeology, ground investigations, surveys and creating new wildlife habitats for HS2’s green corridor. These activities involve heavy machinery crossing parts of the 129d, requiring a diversion.

The public right of way known as W130 will be temporarily closed, with a diversion in place, from early March 2020. HS2’s enabling works contractor will oversee the construction of two diversions for W130 to create a safe walking loop around our worksites.

Offchurch

National Cycle Route 41 on Long Itchington Road is impacted by closures to ensure safety during the construction of a compound and ‘green corridor’ site off Long Itchington Road.

Ridgeway Lane

Ridgeway Lane between the Grand Union Canal and Ufton Hill will be redeveloped to accommodate future main works for HS2. Ridgeway Lane will be closed at times to ensure safety while the track is widened and paved between Winter and Summer 2020.

Compound construction at Long Itchington Wood and Fosse Way

As we prepare to construct the railway, we need to create compounds to support our staff and workers. These will act as hubs for future engineering, planning and construction works, as well as an office base for staff.

In your area, we are creating compounds at Long Itchington Wood near Welsh Road and off the Fosse Way.

Work to clear these sites is nearing completion and we will soon start to install welfare facilities and equipment. You may see more activity in these areas during the coming months.

Longhole habitat creation

As part of our commitment to ensure no net loss of biodiversity as a result of constructing the new railway, LM are creating a series of new wildlife habitats along the line of the HS2 route.

We are constructing one of these mitigation sites at Longhole, near Ridgeway Lane, including a new pond and woodland.

This work will require a temporary closure of Ridgeway Lane in order to improve the road surface to allow easier passage for equipment to the site. We are due to complete the creation of this new habitat by Spring 2020.

Vegetation works

We are removing some existing vegetation at certain locations to prepare for future construction works, including the creation of site accesses and compound areas. Our teams have been working at several locations around Welsh Road, Fosse Way and Long Itchington Road.

Careful evaluation and daily assessment is helping us to minimise the amount of vegetation we have to remove. In parallel, HS2 is creating new woodlands along the route of the railway, with seven million trees eventually set to be planted along the phase one route, from London to the West Midlands.

Utility diversions

National Grid gas are diverting two high pressure pipelines which are located off Welsh Road (near Offchurch). They will be starting this work from mid–February and it will take several months to complete these works. National Grid’s works notification letter is available to read.

LM will also start work on installing the water, telephone and electric supplies for the Long Itchington tunnelling compound from mid-February. This will require road closures which will be operated in phases; phase one will take place on Welsh Road between Fosse Way and Bascote Heath Road in February and March, while phase two will take place between Bascote Heath Road and the A425 junction between February and April. We will keep you informed of any further road closures required for this work.

Ground investigations

From mid-February we will taking sub-surface soil cores from within Long Itchington Wood. This work will guide how we deliver the tunnel underneath the wood in future. The investigations will involve the use of specialist machinery and will take three to four weeks to complete. No trees will be impacted by this work as it will all take place on an existing track within the wood.

Transporting the tunnel boring machine

In order to construct the tunnel under Long Itchington Wood, we need to transport a tunnel boring machine (TBM) to the northern entrance near Ridgeway Lane. The TBM is a large piece of machinery so we need to construct a haul road in order transport the TBM to the tunnel portal location.

You may have seen our preparations for this haul road along Ridgeway Lane already, where we have conducted vegetation clearance and marked out where the road will be constructed.

Over the coming months we will begin constructing the TBM haul road along Ridgeway Lane. This will involve closing the road to keep both our site staff as well as the public safe. We will share more details about this closure, as well as access for non-motorised users, soon.

It is important that we complete as much of this work as soon as possible over the coming months to avoid delaying main works construction which is due to start later this year.

Fosse Way highway improvements

As we construct HS2 we will need to realign B4455 Fosse Way to accommodate the new railway. This will include the construction of a bridge over the proposed route, as well as construction of additional junctions to join existing roads.

We intend to commence these works in April this year. We will keep you informed of how these works could affect you.

Please ensure that you have registered to receive news updates.

LM is overseeing a work site at Cubbington Wood off the B4453 Rugby Road. At this location, we are:

Our work at Cubbington Wood will involve a clearly-signed temporary closure of the public right of way near the wood from late September to December, 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, to ensure the safety of people moving around our work site. We will lift the temporary closure as soon as possible.

LM has published an Autumn/Winter Newsletter to provide more information about early works in Warwickshire, outlining our activities from October 2019 to March 2020 to ensure main construction work can start on time.

In Offchurch, LM will temporarily close a section of Long Itchington Road/National Cycle Route 41 temporary road close from late September to continue preparations for our work site and compound off the B4455 Fosse Way. A diversion will be in place along Welsh Road and the Fosse Way. The temporary closure will be in place 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, and we will lift it from the road as soon as possible.

There will also be traffic lights in place on Welsh Road to support the creation of an access point Welsh Road .

Temporary road closures are continuing in the area between Offchurch and Southam Phase 4 to prepare for future tunnel boring machine work. The current temporary closure of a section of Welsh Road between the Bascote Road junction and the Grand Union Canal Bridge is expected to continue until late November 2019.

Over the coming months, you may see Laing O’Rourke and J. Murphy & Sons (LM) staff and subcontractors constructing ecological mitigation sites in the following locations:

Starting in November we will be planting trees and constructing ponds.

Our work hours are between 8am and 6pm on weekdays and 8am-1pm on Saturdays. Our teams will be on site one hour before and one hour after any works to set up and secure the site at the end of each day.

For an overview of our activity during the winter period please see our latest Autumn/Winter newsletter .

If you have any questions or comments please contact HS2enquiries@hs2.org.uk or call 08081 434 434 and refer to "HS2 in Warwickshire".