Bath Quays sewer project to resume after Christmas pause

A major project to install a new sewer in the centre of Bath will be completed early in the new year after Wessex Water paused work to ease disruption to motorists in the city over the busy Christmas period.

Crews will resume the scheme at Ambury and Corn Street near Avon Street car park on Tuesday 4 January 2022 after standing down and lifting the closure of the road in mid-November to reduce traffic problems in the run-up to the festive season.

The installation of the new sewer, which is being carried out by Wessex Water on behalf of Bath & North East Somerset Council to accommodate the upcoming Bath Quays North development, is expected to be finalised around six weeks after work resumes.

The restart will see the sewer installed from the junction of Ambury and Corn Street and along Corn Street to a connection point opposite the Mission Theatre, meaning the left turn from Ambury onto Corn Street will be closed for most of the work.

A diversion will be in place through St James’ Parade, while the bus stops on Ambury will remain open but will be temporarily moved along the street at times to accommodate the progress of the work. Local sewerage services will be unaffected.

Andy Roberts, who is co-ordinating Wessex Water’s work at the site, said: "The timings and deadlines for this scheme were agreed with the council, following their request for us to divert the existing sewer away from Avon Street car park to make way for the proposed development. Unfortunately, delays to their own Cleveland Bridge repairs taking place at the same time also caused congestion problems in the city.

"We were conscious that the lead-up to the Christmas period is always a busy time for motorists, businesses and the public so we paused the project in November and re-opened the road to help ease any disruption during that time.

"Our team will be back on site to restart the work on Tuesday 4 January and are now focused on completing the scheme in six weeks. We thank all those affected for their patience and would urge visitors to Bath to continue to plan their journeys while we conclude this project as safely and quickly as possible."