National Highways says it could be several more days before it’s cleared flooding on the A421 in Bedfordshire, despite having removed more than five million litres of water from the road.
Following torrential rain over the weekend, the A421 was shut in both directions between A6 at Bedford to M1 junction 13 near Brogborough/Marston Moretaine. Both carriageways have been closed since Sunday evening.
Efforts to clear the floodwater have been ongoing since the weekend with a fleet of ten tankers working around the clock to remove water from the carriageway, which is estimated to be around 60 million litres in total, and at its peak was 8 feet deep.
The flooding of a local pumping station has significantly contributed to the issue.
Once the water has been removed from the carriageway, an investigation and assessment will be carried out to better understand if there is damage to the road and what repair work will be needed.
Martin Fellows, Regional Director for National Highways in the East of England, said: “Let me reassure people that we are taking every possible measure we can to alleviate this situation and get the roads open as soon as possible.
“By the end of today we expect to have removed more than five million litres of water – that’s the same amount as you’d find in two Olympic swimming pools.
“The torrential weather experienced in this part of the country meant over a month’s rainfall fell in less than 48 hours. That overwhelmed the area and, for the first time we’ve experienced, flooded a nearby pumping station hampering our ability to deal this.
“This is an absolute priority as we don’t want people’s journeys impacted by disruption and all our efforts are focused on resolving this and getting the road open as soon as it is safe to do so.
“Given the ground conditions are so wet and we are having to transport the floodwater away from the immediate area, it’s important people realise the size of the task and this could take a number of days to resolve.
“I understand that people are curious and want to visit the scene but I would kindly request that members of the public continue to support us by staying away from the area so our work to resolve this issue can continue to progress at pace.”
(Picture – National Highways Twitter)
