DRIVERS will be restricted to travelling at 30mph on a stretch of the Eastern Bypass for at least six months.

A £6m scheme to replace a water main alongside Normandy Crescent in Oxford will start next Monday with work expected to finish early next year.

Oxford Mail:

William and June Hillier back home

Families in the street have welcomed the news but have said Oxfordshire County Council’s plans to reduce the speed limit to 30mph could cause traffic problems.

And they are worried that problems, such as more flooding, may occur during the work.

Residents were left traumatised when their homes were flooded last September after a water main burst for the second time in seven years.

Pensioner William Hillier and wife June were flooded out of their home for a second time last September and only returned this April.

The 86-year-old said: “Everybody will be happy. I think I will still be on tenterhooks until it’s finished.

It’s a very busy road. It’s bound to cause problems, all roadworks do.”

Thames Water head of strategy, planning and assurance Rob Keen told residents in February that work to replace about 2km of the 24-inch cast iron pipe running along the Eastern Bypass road past Normandy Crescent would cost £6m.

He said the most likely cause of the fracture was a “misalignment of the joint”.

Thames Water spokeswoman Becky Trotman said the new pipe will be installed on the opposite side of the Eastern Bypass road and will run along the slip road to the northbound carriageway.

It will then go along the access road in front of the Mini plant and cross to the northbound carriageway cycle lane, to the north of Horspath Road.

The old pipe will be left in the ground and will not have water running through it.

Ms Trott said the company could not guarantee the Cowley street would not flood for a third time.

She said: “We’re reducing the risk as much as possible by laying a brand new pipe on a new route.

The only way you can guarantee a pipe will not burst is to not run water through it.”

The speed limit will be reduced to 30mph on both carriageways of the Eastern Bypass between the Cowley and Headington roundabouts from June 15.

County council spokeswoman Catarina Walsh said it was “to minimise any congestion”.

Cycle tracks and paths on the west side of the road, from Horspath Driftway to Magdalen Wood West, will close from June 15 until September 13.

They will also close between Horspath Road and Horspath Driftway from September 14 until December 20.

Normandy Crescent resident Mandy Blessing said: “I don’t know if we will be completely happy until the pipe work has been completed. Even while they are fixing it there is a chance that something could go wrong and there could be another flood.

“The road is a main artery for traffic. The workers need to be safe. It needs to be done, and you can’t get around that, but it will cause many problems.”

The flooding hit 15 houses and eight flats, with another 27 houses cut off from the water supply.