Drakes Way subway: Council commissions artist to paint flooded subway

Several people said they could not believe it when they saw an artist beginning to paint a mural at the subway, when it was currently completely inaccessible due to floodwaters.

Another member of the public, who wished not to be named, said they welcomed the art being installed there, but felt that the council should be focusing on making it usable rather than making it look good.

The council said that they thought the flooding issue had been resolved as work to replace the drainage had taken place earlier in the year, and no further flooding had happened in the following months. 

Thames Water has said that it is continuing to work with the council to get to the bottom of the problems of the Drakes Way subway. 

The Drakes Way subway, Swindon, left unusable after recent heavy rainfall (Image: Newsquest)

The member of the public said: "The flooding has been going on for years. They shut the underpass for a week months ago to fix it but that didn't work. When it rains and then floods we have to go across the dual carriageway and walk a fair distance to the crossing.

"So I was shocked when I saw that rather than fixing the drains they were putting new lights in and had painted it white and obviously it still flooded. I welcome the improvements and the artist's work looks good, but I question the priorities."  

In response, Councillor Kevin Parry, Swindon Borough Council’s cabinet member for waste collection and disposal & highways maintenance, said: “The subway underneath Drakes Way has been in need of refurbishment for some time and work to improve the drainage took place at the start of this year, alongside the resurfacing of the footway and cycleway.

"This involved my officers replacing gullies and a drain, while Thames Water took the opportunity to put in a connection to address a low-lying outfall as a means of solving the flooding issues.

“Over the next seven months, there were no further reports of flooding when there was heavy rainfall so it was quite rightly assumed that the problem had been fixed. Unfortunately, not long after replacing the lighting and painting the subway, it flooded once more. Thames Water are now investigating what caused the latest incident."

He added: “We have commissioned Artiste to paint a lovely mural to celebrate the green spaces of Swindon and we hope this will be completed when the weather improves and the drainage issues are resolved.”

The beginning of a mural commissioned by Swindon Borough Council painted on Drakes Way (Image: Newsquest)

A Thames Water spokesperson commented, explaining what the issue with the frequently flooding subway was.

They said: “We’re aware of the ongoing flooding on the Drakes Way underpass in Swindon following the recent heavy rainfall.

“We’ve worked with the council and the Environment Agency to understand what causes the underpass to flood and how it can be prevented.

“A surface water pipe runs from the underpass down to a local watercourse, which is affected when water levels rise in the stream and then back up the pipe causing flooding to the underpass.

“We’re conducting a survey to determine if we can lift the last section of the surface water pipe out of watercourse so that it isn’t affected during periods of heavy rain and by higher water levels and debris in the stream.

“We’ll continue to work with our local partners to help resolve this.”