Received the following e-mail from Lewisham Council, which is self-explanatory. But it is disgraceful that it has taken so long to repair! I will be asking what will happen to the 181 and 225 buses.

Dear All,

Owing to a broken sewer on Hither Green Lane, just east of the roundabout at the junction with Courthill Road, raw sewage is being expelled onto the highway and requires repair as soon as practicable. In order to facilitate this an emergency closure of Hither Green Lane, between Courthill Road and Ryecroft Road, will be required. The contractor will be Cappagh's who will be starting the investigation and repair on Tuesday 5th August at 10am, but unfortunately they could last for couple of weeks since a shaft of up to 5m depth may have to be excavated in order to access the sewer and damaged connection.

For exact location please follow the link:- http://www.streetmap.co.uk/streetmap.dll?G2M?X=538366&Y=174839&A=Y&Z=1

Since the majority of side roads are residential or traffic calmed they are unsuitable for the volumes and type of traffic which may be displaced it is proposed that the diversions will begin from the South Circular and Lewisham High Street. Local access and egress will be maintained for residents and businesses in the immediate area.

The proposed diversions routes will be:-

Eastbound traffic on the south circular:- St.Mildreds Road, Burnt Ash Road, Lee High Road and Molesworth Street
Westbound traffic on the south circular and northbound from Verdant Lane:- Brownhill Road, Catford Gyratory, Rushey Green, Lew High Street.

Eastbound from Whitburn Road & northbound on Lewisham High Street:- Lewisham High St, Molesworth St, Lee High Rd, Burnt Ash Rd, St.Mildreds Rd.

Southbound on Lewisham High Street:- Lewisham High Street, Rushey Green, Brownhill Road.

Buses will also be on diversion although I haven't yet received details of their preferred routes.

Advance warning signs will be erected in the next day or so but clearly there is likely to be congestion in the area in the early days until drivers find their way around the works but this generally settles down fairly quickly. Information letters will be distributed to the residents of the adjacent properties tomorrow, Friday 1st August.

For further information please contact me either by email or on the numbers below.

Regards

Dave Wheeler
Network Management
Tel: 020 8314 2218
Fax: 020 8690 4905
Mob: 07793 906 940