Motorists say town is in grip of traffic 'carnage'

8 hours ago

Harry Parkhillin Spalding

News image — Chris Pearson, who works for a taxi firm, says roadworks are causing "chaos"

BBC A man wearing a blue and grey t-shirt and black glasses is standing in front of a mini bus with large, tinted windows on a sunny day — Chris Pearson, who works for a taxi firm, says roadworks are causing "chaos"

A council has apologised for traffic disruption described as by one taxi worker as "carnage".

Work on a new cycle route, along with emergency repairs to a sinkhole and other roadworks, are contributing to disruption in Spalding, Lincolnshire.

Chris Pearson, a passenger assistant for Spalding Smart Cabs, said traffic in the town was "a nightmare".

Ashley Behan, traffic manager at Lincolnshire County Council, said he was sorry for the delays, but hoped it would be a case of "short-term pain for long-term gain".

A picture via a rear-view mirror showing a line of queueing cars in a residential street — Motorists say long queues are commonplace in the town at present

The roadworks mean there is a one-way system in Pinchbeck Road to allow work on the new cycle path, which is due to be finished on October 30.

Closures are also in place in Woolram Wygate, West Elloe Avenue and Winfrey Avenue.

Meanwhile, work started in June in Enterprise Way to repair a persistent issue with a sinkhole.

"It's absolute carnage," Pearson said. "Everyone's getting confused where to go.

"Two nights ago, it should take us an hour to get home, probably less, and it took us an hour and 25 minutes. It's just a nightmare at the moment."

A woman with wavy blonde hair, bright red lipstick and black glasses smiles at the camera. She is standing in front of a window, with an open, slatted blind — Angela Barand says teams are "working really hard" in front of her hair salon

Jack Hudson, who works at a homeless charity near the planned cycle route, called the traffic "absolutely diabolical".

"It's chaos, especially at peak times," he said. "What should take 15 minutes, 20 minutes normally, is taking me an hour sometimes.

"It's really impacting what we can do," he added. "It's having a huge impact."

Angela Barand, who runs Shear Shak hair salon, in Pinchbeck Road, said it was taking longer for clients to get in for appointments.

But she had sympathy for those repairing the roads, said they were "working really hard" and praised their communication.

A bald-headed man wearing a white polo-shirt smiles as he stands behind a bar with shelves full of bottles of spirits behind him — Landlord Patrick Hughes says the roadworks are affecting his pub

At the Royal Mail Cart Inn, landlord Patrick Hughes said his pub had "come to a standstill almost".

He said a two-mile journey to get supplies for an event took 45 minutes.

"At the moment, certainly with the level of business that we're doing, it's just in no way viable and with two pubs closing every day, it's difficult enough.

"Certainly this is, you might say, the nail in the coffin."

Behan said utility companies had a legal right to do work, but the council had refused more than 200 additional permit requests for the area since April.

"We are actively trying to manage things and make the best of it we can," he said.

In the longer term, people would be "able to move around Spalding in different ways, in better ways" following the work.

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