Highways chiefs say they are attempting to minimise disruption to residents in an area of Lichfield blighted by roadworks in recent months.
It comes after more delays due to temporary traffic lights earlier this week at Lichfield Trent Valley and surrounding roads while streetlight renewal works took place.
The latest disruption follows recent works in the same area for gas repairs and resurfacing.
Despite the different works taking place around the same junction, none of the projects have taken place at the same time leading to frustration for drivers.
But Cllr David Williams, Staffordshire County Council’s cabinet member for highways, said teams were doing all they could to ensure delays were as minimal as possible.
“Our highways teams work carefully to coordinate works on the roads to help minimise costs, disruption and inconvenience to both residents and motorists.
“This often means co-ordinating highways maintenance, new developments, utility and telecom projects and emergency work – and sometimes all at once.”
Cllr David Williams, Staffordshire County Council
The recent works at Trent Valley have also left Streethay residents facing ongoing disruption due to the HS2 development meaning the junction is the only way to access homes and businesses, with the problems exacerbated by train services not running between Lichfield City and Lichfield Trent Valley stations for the rest of the year.
Meanwhile, the roadworks have also coincided with lengthy delays at the other end of Eastern Avenue while a new junction and resurfacing works are taking place.
Cllr Williams said:
“The county is currently going through a growth phase with a lot of upgrading of existing utilities as well as new developments.
“Our highways teams continue to deal with an increasing number of requests to carry out work on the roads and are managing this as best they can to keep the county moving.”
Cllr David Williams, Staffordshire County Council
Getting out of Lichfield has just become a nightmare with road closures and temporary traffic lights every day. If the sliproad from the A38 to Streethay reopens in October they’ve got a lot of work to do as it currently doesn’t exist!
The council are absolutely useless on every single level it’s embarrassing
The works at the moment feel as though they’ve been coordinated to maximise disruption with the closure of watery lane aligned to the inevitable over run in the works by The Friary School.
What will they think of next for the road
Put simply There has been no coordination to date. How much more chaos is coming?
Street lights need replacing, gas pipes need repairing, roads need resurfacing. Complaints when the work is done, complaints if it isn’t. Too many cars on the road, many doing very short trips, that’s the main problem.
It is the County Council, specifically the Highways Department, that is responsible for planning roadworks etc, not LichfieldDistrict Council.
Talking of roadworks on Eastern Avenue, it is a welcome sight that the road has been resurfaced from the new Grange Lane junction down to the Hedgehog traffic lights. But why-oh-why have they left a short 50m section on the westbound half of the carriageway (next to Irving Road) with the old surface? Maybe I am premature and this section is still to be resurfaced, but all the new road markings have been painted and this looks almost complete. Surely it can’t be down to penny-pinching on a section of road well known for potholes!
If works are coordinated, why were works done on the A38 and the A5 at Tamworth at the same time, shutting any alternative routes into Lichfield.
Is the million pounds, proposed to be spent on the road from St John’s Street to Rotten Row, coordinated with what Lichfield council are proposing for the Friarsgate/Birmingham Road site
With the closure of Watery Lane for 12 weeks, drivers are starting to use Netherstowe Lane as a cut through into Lichfield, rather than the stipulated diversion along Wood End Lane to the A515. Netherstowe Lane is unsuitable for traffic, and is a popular cycling route. There needs to be No Through Road signs at both ends before a cyclist or walker is killed. I tried reporting this on SCC website, but gave up.