NORTHERN POWERGRID ADVISES OF ROAD CLOSURES AHEAD OF COMPLETING £7.5M INVESTMENT SCHEME IN DONCASTER

Northern Powergrid, the company responsible for the electricity network that powers everyday life for 8 million people across 3.9 million homes and businesses in the North East, Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire, has almost completed its £7.5 million investment programme to improve the reliability and resilience of the electricity network serving Doncaster.

The investment work, which started at the end of June 2022, has focused on removing 8.5km of overhead line and more than 60 line support structures with a combination of new underground cables and a small section of modern new overhead line. Two substations have also been upgraded. The new equipment will help meet future increases in the demand for power as the area develops, the population grows and more people swap their cars for electric vehicles.

As well as improving performance, by removing the overhead line network this work also significantly improves the visual appearance of the local landscape, including the area in and around the Yorkshire Wildlife Park.

The company has completed its underground cabling works in Armthorpe, Besscarr, Branton, Cantley and Rossington. Northern Powergrid's contractor, Kelbray, now just has several sections of overhead line and supports to remove over the next few weeks, after which the scheme will be fully completed. This will involve some short-duration lane and road closures as follows:

• Great Yorkshire Way - two-way traffic lights will be in operation between the Rossington and Bawtry Road turnoffs from 8am-5pm on Sunday 11 June 2023.
• The Close, Kingsmead Road and Sandhills Way, Branton will be fully closed from Monday 12 to Friday 16 June 2023 (inclusive) while lines and masts are removed from back gardens. Northern Powergrid is speaking individually to impacted residents.
• Sandpit Hill (Doncaster Road) - two-way traffic lights will be in operation from 7pm-7am from Tuesday 13 to Friday 16 June 2023.
• M18 will be fully closed overnight (9pm-5am) between junctions 3 and 4 on Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 July 2023. A signposted diversion will be in place.

Andy Smart, Project Manager at Northern Powergrid said:"This investment not only helps ensure the reliability of the local power supply, both now and in the future, but has also made the area look better too.

"That said, we're always very aware of the potential impact of our work on people's everyday lives, which is why we've done all we can to support and communicate with local people during this important investment in the area's electricity network.

"We'd like to thank everyone for their patience and support while this work has been delivered."

For more information, contact Northern Powergrid's customer care team by email at [email protected]or call 0800 011 3332.