24/7 Freephone Community Helpline 08081 434 434 HS2 Update Hampton in Arden|Berkswell|Balsall Common|Burton Green|Kenilworth|Autumn/Winter 2020 High Speed Two (HS2) is the new high speed railway for Britain. This update provides information about upcoming work on HS2 in your area. Work over the What to expect during coming months main construction work Work on HS2 in your area is In April, the Department for Transport progressing well, including our gave approval for HS2 to issue Notice enabling works and preparing to Proceed to our main works for main construction work. contractors working on Phase One of Over the coming months we the project. will be continuing with early The issuing of Notice to Proceed works, including preparing for marked the point at which BBV started construction of the Burton full detailed design and construction Green Tunnel; finishing the work. This includes ground temporary Kenilworth investigation surveys, establishing a Greenway; undertaking site compound off Park Lane near Balsall preparation and ecological Common and a further compound work, alongside progressing adjacent to the A46 in Stoneleigh, and Our commitments the design of some key design work on key structures such as to you: structures in your area. bridges and viaducts. Keep all sites safe and Across this part of the Phase Please be assured that as we enter this secure. One route, enabling works are period of main construction work, we delivered by LM – a joint remain committed to being a good Keep disruption to a venture between Laing O’Rourke neighbour to any communities affected minimum. and J. Murphy & Sons. by our work. Inform you of any work The main construction work You can sign up to receive updates for that may impact you. will be carried out by BBV – a your local area at hs2insolihull.co.uk joint venture between Balfour and hs2inwarwickshire.co.uk. Answer your questions via Beatty and VINCI. the 24/7 HS2 Helpdesk. HS2 work during the next few months This information describes construction activity that we are carrying out near you during autumn and winter 2020. Work around the Kenilworth Greenway, Burton Green to Berkswell We are working around Burton Green, preparing to Interim arrangements construct a tunnel through the area. The ‘cut and We have closed a section of the existing Greenway to cover’ tunnel will be designed to reduce noise prepare it for future construction works. In parallel, around the tunnel portals and broadly follows the we are working on the temporary Greenway and it is alignment of the Kenilworth Greenway. The existing due to open in winter 2020-21. Greenway, between Berkswell and Burton Green, In the meantime, while the temporary Greenway is will be part of the construction area for HS2's main being finished, anyone wanting to walk between works. Once the railway is finished, the Greenway Berkswell and Burton Green is advised to use a is due to reopen. mixture of existing public rights of way, and a series of interim alternative paths set up by LM to help keep To provide an alternative route while the people moving through the area. Kenilworth Greenway is unavailable, LM is creating a temporary diversion of the Greenway between Local traffic management Berkswell and Burton Green. To safely build the temporary Greenway, we’ve needed to implement road closures on Hob, Cromwell The temporary Greenway will be suitable for all and Red Lanes in Burton Green, which were users, with facilities for horse riders and new traffic introduced in late August. Closures were required while we worked in the middle of these roads. signals at road crossing points. Post-and-wire fencing will line the majority of the path, and it will We received community feedback about the road have a stone surface. closures, requesting changes where possible to try and lift the closures sooner than planned. We’ve For users travelling from Kenilworth, the existing worked with council and community representatives Greenway will remain in place until the diversion to respond to feedback and revise the traffic starts behind the site of the new Burton Green management. We have been able to change our village hall off Red Lane. A new crossing will be built programme by moving to seven-day working. More on Red Lane to take the footpath alongside Burrow information about the changes is available at Hill Park onto Hob Lane. hs2insolihull.co.uk and hs2inwarwickshire.co.uk. Users will then travel over Hob Lane on a new Main works in Burton Green The completion of the temporary Greenway will allow crossing, and follow the path along existing field BBV to start its major construction work in the area boundaries up to another new crossing over Waste early in the new year. Work will take place on both the Lane. Finally, the route will head towards Berkswell. north and south sides of Burton Green village. Initially, In future, when BBV builds the final footpath route, BBV will concentrate on setting up smaller satellite it will connect the Greenway to the Berkswell compounds. Once these are in place, we will get our Station area. major civil engineering works underway. Over the past three years, we have worked with BBV will update the local community on its local authorities and community and equestrian construction programme during late autumn and representatives to make sure the temporary early winter 2020. Greenway is a safe community asset that residents, visitors, pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders can use throughout HS2 construction work. We’ve collaborated with local representatives to gather feedback on the crossings, and incorporated a number of requests into the design. Call our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 Work around the Kenilworth Greenway, Burton Green to Berkswell Map of temporary Greenway route - open in winter 2020-21 Map of Kenilworth Greenway closure - to be referred to until temporary route is open Call our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 Crackley update LM and BBV are now both at work in the Crackley and Kenilworth area. LM is continuing its work to build the ‘haul road’ (a temporary road for construction traffic only) next to the route of the railway. LM is also making changes to the A429 Coventry Road/ Kenilworth Road to prepare for future construction work. Under temporary traffic management, we are widening a part of the road and creating a new turning Work on A452 Kenilworth Road point for HS2 main works-related traffic. LM is preparing to build a new BBV is ensuring that the final design of the railway at roundabout at the junction of the A452 this location best suits the surrounding environment. and Park Lane in Balsall Common. At the ‘Crackley Gap’, BBV is adjusting the alignment of the HS2 route to minimise the necessary diversion of Over winter, we’ll continue with traffic Canley Brook. The result of this work will be a reduced management for work on utilities and impact on the local environment. roads. In 2021, the roundabout will be built in stages, due to finish by the middle BBV will be sharing further updates about its design of the year. work in the coming months. Key Design Elements update As part of preparing for the construction of Phase One of HS2, we are developing a more detailed design of the railway. A key aspect of this process is making the community aware of our work and seeking their views on certain structures or parts of the railway known as ‘Key Design Elements’. In the coming months, we will be inviting members of the public to view and comment on our planned design for the route across the River Blythe near Hampton-in-Arden and the Balsall Common viaduct near Berkswell Railway Station. For more updates about this engagement please visit hs2insolihull.co.uk and hs2inwarwickshire.co.uk. Installation of the bridge over the A446 ahead of main construction work Call our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 Ecological work Our work to create a ‘green corridor’ of new wildlife Our webinar programme started in September. habitats and woodlands alongside the railway is Dates for upcoming webinars will be advertised on progressing well. our local community websites. This involves the planting of around 7 million new In addition to our habitat creation work, you may have trees and shrubs between London and the West seen our contractors installing fencing and removing Midlands, as well as the creation of a series of new some existing vegetation near you. This is necessary to wildlife habitats. So far, LM has planted nearly prepare the route of the railway for future 80,000 trees across the West Midlands and construction activity and is being compensated by the Warwickshire. introduction of new woodlands and habitats alongside the railway. To show local communities how we are accomplishing this goal, we will host a series of At any ancient woodland sites we affect, we will be webinars with our ecological experts. These will relocating the existing soils to new woodlands nearby. look into different aspects of how we are creating This will involve a specific and careful process the green corridor. designed to maintain the valuable biodiversity that currently exists in the soils. This includes how we are creating a new network of woodland and wildlife habitats, how we are We understand that the community has strong managing our impact on local wildlife, including feelings about this work. Please be assured that we protected species, and how our archaeology teams will continue to work within the necessary regulations, are analysing plant remains to recreate our past including licences from Natural England.