The show must go on

Emergency sewer works will not stop Kirkham festivities

United Utilities is working on a 100 year old clay sewer beneath Poulton Street in Kirkham, but the company has pledged to make sure important village events go ahead as planned.  

The sewer had collapsed in places causing parts of the highway above to collapse. So the road has been closed today (Friday 31 May) to allow United Utilities to dig out a larger section of the pipe and get it replaced ahead of the food festival this weekend. The road will be reopened this evening. 

Then on Monday 3 June the road will be closed again to carry on with the pipe replacement throughout next week. On Friday 7 June the road will re-open in time for the Kirkham Club Day procession that weekend, then it will be closed again on Monday 10 June to complete the rest of the work. The company hopes to get everything finished before the end of June.  

The road closure will be between Kirkgate and Mill Street. There will be a diversion clearly marked via Freckleton Street, the Kirkham Bypass, the A585and Weeton Road.

Mill Street will remain open for traffic, so cars will still be able to access the Mill Street car park and Morrisons.  Pedestrian access will be maintained to all of the shops within the road closure which will all be open for business as usual. 

United Utilities project manager Paul Rigby said: “We aimed to repair the most serious sections of the sewer by the end of today and we were intending to come back and reline the entire 200m length of the sewer at a later date.  This would have meant we were able to avoid a road closure, because re-lining can be done without lots of digging. But we were worried that there could be further road collapses so we took the decision to crack on with replacing the pipe today. 

“We’ve been working closely with the local council and our absolute priority is to keep any disruption to a minimum. We want to make sure the road is safe for the various events coming up in Kirkham over the next two weekends. We’re really grateful to the community for their patience while we get on with this essential work. We’ll be in direct contact with the residents and businesses affected in the immediate area to keep them fully informed.”