History and status of Zig Zag Road, Kenley, CR8 5EL UK
Power Point Presentation by Max Lishmund (describes in detail state of the road prior to cement rehabilitation)
Zig Zag Road CR8 5EL
Highway Improvement Summary (Meeting No. 3) Zig Zag Road CR8 5EL
Venue: Room 1.03 Bernard Weatherill House Tuesday 16th February 2017 at 17.30 hrs
Present: Steve Iles MBE - Head of Streets (Croydon) Barry Crosby - Senior Engineer (Croydon Highways) Rowland Gordon - Network Manager (Croydon Highways) Cllr Steve O’Connell - Kenley ward (Croydon) Richard Russell - resident Zig Zag Road Tim Deadman – resident Zig Zag Road Max Lishmund - resident Zig Zag Road
Physical Characteristics: - Mix of various sized stone, gravel and chunks of hard compacted road planings from previous work. - Steep gradient causing surface to ‘step’ from wheel spin. - Surface ironworks for telecoms, waste water and water supply service exist (Utility maps are received.) - Sub surface electrical and gas supplies (Utility maps are received). Ownership - Road designated a Private Street (Highways Act 1959 / Croydon Corporation Act 1960) maintained at the expense of frontagers - Road is an unadopted public highway. Dimensions Total length – 270 m Total area – 1080sqm Gradient – 1:7 at steepest General Issues Rutted surface on steepest section and potholes at top and bottom sections leading to:-
• Potholes are a daily problem for pedestrians and wheeled traffic and resulting injury and damage. Also slipping on loose material. • Flood risk for three properties on north side (some homeowners have installed kerbing to direct water over recent years).
• Any attempts at temporary repairs prone to puddle/wash away.
• Impassable to some kinds of wheeled traffic – even in dry conditions due to loose material in road way.
• HGVs including waste / recycling collection vehicles eroding road leading to Veolia having to use lighter lorry to collect refuse.
• Prone to erosion from fast flowing surface water some of it from housing created at top of road in the 1970s and 80s with no provision for management of rainwater. The surface water routes create deep channel in middle of road. The deep channel in the road half way along makes it hard for vehicles to pass. The waste collectors are claiming the road is not usable for waste collections.
• Unsafe as loose material is on the slope.
• Wearing away of surface at junction with Abbots Lane as vehicles pull out of Zig Zag Road.
• Road is on sat nav maps and used to access and exit Welcomes Road which is private and not in sat nav directions.
– Contractor Proposals
Marshalls Surfacing Construction Ltd. Marshall Surfacing quoted £22,700 exc VAT to supply and lay 14mm DBM course plus bituminous emulsion. The work to be carried out over 2 days. It became apparent that the Marshalls Directors could not support the quote given and company ceased to communicate with association.
London Surfacing Contracts Ltd. London Surfacing Company Ltd reviewed the site and a quotation was obtained for £91,075 inc VAT to properly build 367m2 of the road (top section) with drainage or about 1/3rd of the total area implying with VAT a build cost of over £200k for the whole length of the road. An alternative quote using road planings but including drainage for the same area would cost £13,038 inc VAT. Neither of these alternatives addressed the problems of the steep section.
Re-Drive Southern Ltd based in Balcombe ,West Sussex reviewed the site and quotation was obtained for £23,575 inc VAT for reclamation and cement stabilisation and associated drainage. The Senior Director Andrew Elliott who visited the site and would oversee and manage the works, paid considerable attention to the drainage aspects and offered solutions including planned cambering biases to avoid ‘channelling’ and to use pre-existing storm water drain at Leacroft Road threshold and wastewater drain at no 15 Zig Zag Road to reduce water volume channelling unguided in the road. This solution was agreed on the basis of drainage solution at no.15 Zig Zag Road will be utilised (half way point at hillside).
Full length reclamation and cement stabilisation of the roadway reusing material in situ. Cambered roadway for much improved surface drainage. Levelled to expose and make flush with existing ironwork inspection/access covers and thresholds. Roadway level meets driveways and access points Location where to profile towards and utilise existing storm drain / wastewater drain /soakaway Location where roadway is to utilise existing concrete or stone kerbing Agreement for ‘Keep In Low Gear’ [gradient] warning sign Note: Speed humps not permitted by the council and would require agreement following improvements
Note: Speed humps not permitted by the council and would require agreement following improvements (subsequently speed bump combining guide for rainwater into existing Leacroft Close gulley.. later inspected and approved by Barry Crosby and his successor on a site visit.
More on history and status of road
Status:
Zig Zag Road is an unadopted street or highway and in terms of Part XI of the Highways Act 1980 is a highway not maintainable at public expense.
Unadopted roads do not have to be adequately maintained by the highway authority under the Highways Act 1980. However a legal duty to maintain these roads still exists, but it falls onto the owners of the road, which usually consists of the owners of any properties fronting that highway.
Zig Zag Road is also a ‘public right of way'. Leacroft Close is a spur road maintained by the Council that leads directly on to Zig Zag Road and is the only access for residents in the Close to a public road.
History:
Over the past 50 years or so different residents tried with varying success to make good the road. By 2016 the surface was so bad that the road was virtually impassable to vehicular traffic and was unsafe for pedestrians. The road has a steep section which was prone to serious and regular erosion from flood water. The Council Waste Contractors stopped bringing their normal sized refuse lorries into the road in 2016 and it was also being proposed that waste bins should be wheeled to the road entrance / junction with Abbots Lane or Welcomes Road. Taxis and delivery vehicles often felt unable to use the road though HGVs were able to which accelerated the collapse of the road.
The Road Association was formed in 2016 to ‘adopt’ the road and resolve long standing problems with the maintenance of Zig Zag Road. Attempts by residents to get Croydon Council to adopt the road have been unsuccessful. It would have been prohibitively expensive to bring the road up to Council standards anyway. Also the agreement of all frontagers to adoption is required to avoid the need for Court action which the Council is generally reluctant to pursue. After three meetings with the Council during 2016 and 2017 concerning our proposed solutions for the road and a year of fundraising from the frontagers, including Leacroft Close, a specialist contractor called Re Drive was employed to cement stabilise the road at a cost of £24,000 inc VAT.
Residents funded this work (£1200 for Zig Zag frontagers and £600 for Leacroft Close) and by this action it was accepted that a road association be formed and a bank account in the name of Zig Zag & Leacroft Road Association was opened with Lloyds Bank with 3 signatories 2 of which must sign any instructions to the bank to disburse funds. One signatory however has been authorised to make electronic payments using the internet as long as each disbursement is authorised by a second signatory for internal audit purposes. A working Committee was formed after reference to the residents who were kept informed by regular situation reports. Three signatories to the bank account were elected from the working Committee.
Conventional tarmac solutions with proper drainage and foundation layers would have cost at least 4 times this sum. Cement stabilisation was chosen as the only way to create a viable, affordable and durable road surface. The work was carried out in August 2017 reasonably successfully and the road survived severe frosts over the 2017/18 winter and the less severe winter of 2018/19. Minor repairs are cheap and easy to carry out by the residents. The appearance of the road surface was spoiled overnight by a storm the day after it had laid but it has proved very strong and able to cope with HGV traffic although this is discouraged by a sign asking drivers not to use Zig Zag Road to access Welcomes Road. The request is more often than not ignored. The road is unlikely to need any major work for some years when the same cement rehabilitation process could be carried out to restore the road. The work is guaranteed against major failure up to 31st July 2020 and a formal agreement entered into between the Road Association and Re- Drive the contractors.
House of Commons Library notes on unadopted roads
https://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/SN00402