A Road Closure Notice That Cannot Be Published As Drafted
The division road office must publish a public notice in a national daily and on its notice board by 5 p.m. today. The engineer has confirmed that the Kalanki–Sitapaila road will be closed for blacktopping from 10 June to 15 June, but only between 10:00 and 17:00 each day. The contractor has said it may extend the closure to 18:00 on the last two days, but this is not confirmed. The office chief wants a short notice and has approved this draft:
“Notice. This is to inform all the general public that the road from Kalanki to Sitapaila will be closed for repair works from 10th June to 15th June due to repair of blacktopping. The road will be closed from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. Passengers are requested to use alternative route via Balkhu. We regret for the inconvenience. For more information contact the office.”
A reporter has asked whether the road is fully closed or one lane remains open. The office has not decided how to answer that. The notice must carry the issuing office’s name and a contact number.
1. Identify five specific problems in the draft and state a correction for each.
Read the worked answer
- “all the general public” is redundant and ungrammatical in this context; use “the general public” or “all concerned”.
- “10th June to 15th June” has no year and mixes ordinal style; use “10–15 June 2025” or “10 June to 15 June 2025”.
- “due to repair of blacktopping” is awkward and repeats “repair works”; use “for blacktopping work”.
- “The road will be closed from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm” does not make clear whether the road is closed all day or only in that window; write “will remain closed daily from 10:00 to 17:00” and add “the road will be open at other times”.
- “use alternative route” lacks an article and is vague; write “use the alternative route via Balkhu”.
- “We regret for the inconvenience” is ungrammatical; use “We regret the inconvenience” or “We apologise for the inconvenience”.
- The draft lacks the issuing office, date, signature and contact number, all of which the office requires.
Any five with corrections are sufficient.
2. Rewrite the notice so that it is accurate, unambiguous and appropriately formal (70–100 words).
Read the worked answer
Notice
The Division Road Office informs the general public that the Kalanki–Sitapaila road will remain closed for blacktopping from 10 to 15 June 2025, daily from 10:00 to 17:00. The road will be open at other times. Passengers should use the alternative route via Balkhu. We regret the inconvenience. For further information, contact the Division Road Office at [phone number]. Any change to these arrangements will be notified separately.
Issued by: [Office], [date].
3. The contractor’s possible extension to 18:00 is unconfirmed, and a reporter asks whether one lane remains open. How should the notice and the office response handle both points?
Read the worked answer
Publish only confirmed facts in the formal notice: 10–15 June 2025, daily 10:00–17:00, open at other times, alternative route via Balkhu, issuing office and contact number. Do not put “may extend to 18:00” in the notice; an unconfirmed possibility in a legal-style notice creates a false expectation and is hard to enforce. For the reporter, use a holding line: “The confirmed closure is 10:00–17:00. If the contractor’s extension is approved, the office will issue a supplementary notice with the exact dates and hours.” On the one-lane question, do not guess. Say the office is checking with the engineer and will include lane arrangements in the supplementary notice. If one lane is kept open, state it precisely - direction, hours and access for emergency vehicles; if not, say “full closure”. Record the query and the reply so that the office’s position is consistent.