Colchester High St Pavement Improvement Project to start early thanks to smarter Ultrafast Broadband upgrade work

Night work to repair and improve the paving slabs in the High Street can now start on 20th July, thanks to some clever installation of broadband upgrades by Colchester Borough Council.

More Colchester businesses and homes are getting ultrafast broadband, thanks to a £3.5 million ultrafast broadband project being implemented by Colchester Borough Council and its wholly owned company, Colchester Amphora Trading Ltd, using funding from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport. A smarter way of installing the necessary extra capacity has been found, which meant digging up less of the road and pavement in the High Street. Work there is now complete, so contractors Henderson and Taylor can begin work from Monday 20th to replace and re-grout and seal slabs on the pavements.

Essex Highway is managing the work, which will take about 12 weeks, funded by a partnership of Essex County Council and Colchester Borough Council.

The repair works will be done at night, from 7pm to 6am, in sections, moving quickly along the street. The noisiest work will be completed before 11.30pm. New colour-coordinated slabs will replace any damaged areas with grouting and sealing to prevent damage in future. Contractors will work Sunday to Thursday nights to avoid any issues for late-night businesses who are particularly busy on Friday and Saturday nights. Careful coordination with night-time businesses will avoid problems and people will be able to walk past throughout. Officers from Colchester Borough Council will be talking to residents and business owners directly affected to ensure that there is little or no inconvenience or loss of access to premises for customers.