Sunday 20 April 2014

Harris Academy Perth Road site - issues addressed

Road at the Harris site
As residents will recall, I have recently raised road safety issues outside the Harris Academy site in Perth Road during the new school buildings construction period that the City Council and the contractor has been swift to tackle and resolve.

Residents have recently raised some other issues - mud and dirt on the roadway where contractors' vehicles enter and exit the site, the height of speed limit signs and the extent of contractors' staff vehicles parked on West Park Road.

The contractor's Site Manager has sent me the following helpful response:
... we constantly monitor the condition of the roads and footpaths adjacent to the site and organise suitable and appropriate cleaning measures accordingly.  We deploy resources depending on the conditions and operations that we are carrying out which will see road brushes being used several times a day if we are carrying out intensive earthworks operations and during periods of poorer weather conditions which can have an impact but we also deploy road brushes in a more general way when we feel that the road needs a general tidy up.  We also deploy operatives with road brushes and power washers to clean pavements around the site to keep them in good condition when required.  We will continue to monitor the conditions and endeavour to ensure that the adjacent roads and footpaths are kept up to an acceptable standard throughout the project.
The 20mph advisory speed limit signs have been installed in exactly the same location and in fact overlaid onto the existing 20mph signs which would have been installed in line with current signage legislation / guidance.
The issue of parking around a construction site is always a difficult one and we advise our contractors when they are appointed that they must show an appropriate level of consideration for the local residents and road users and to ensure that they avoid parking over driveways, on footpaths, to close to junctions, etc and in this particular case to avoid parking on the Perth Road because it is a main commuter route into Dundee and primary route for ambulances travelling to Ninewells Hospital.
In instances where employees do not adhere to these rules we take measures as necessary to remove vehicles, liaise with our contractors to police their employees parking and in some cases we have consulted with the local traffic wardens to target anyone who is not parking legally.  Unfortunately, like any other employer we are not in a position to prevent people from using the legally provided parking areas that are located around the site and I would ask that we bear in mind that these are simply people travelling to their place of work and parking in legitimate parking spaces as we all do.  We will of course do everything in our power to ensure that the workforce is being responsible in their attitude to parking around the site.