The road works at Burnt Tree Island are underway despite objections from business leaders and the general public who dubbed the £12.3m project costly and counter-productive and, right from the off, it’s looking as though there may well be another sting in the pocket for taxpayers.
Chris Kelly, the Managing Director of locally based Keltruck, recently warned in an Express & Star feature that traffic chaos would ensue (having previously made the case for ditching the whole idea in favour of simpler and cheaper solutions – predictably this feel on deaf ears…) and sure enough he has been vindicated as the same newspaper interviewed road users facing a painful 18months of tailbacks and delays in today’s issue.
And those who live within striking distance of the roadworks aren’t merely ‘ticked off’, they’re threatening to sue for the many months of inconvenience they’re facing. Spying an opportunity, canny chartered surveyors have been offering their services to help claim compensation and nearby resident Linda Jones, who has two young sons to take to school every morning come September, is amongst the first to enter talks and make preparations for a legal challenge.
It certainly looks as though the price of a new Burnt Tree Island is set to escalate, plundering more for the public purse to placate aggrieved homeowners and local businesses, many of who rejected the plans to start with.
Doris Smith, 78, hasn’t left home for a week because of the disruption and Paul Harwood, 59, is thinking of swapping his car for a scooter to weave through the mounting traffic.
What a palaver, made worse by the fact that this disorder was predicted long ago, and once the work is finished who’s to say they’ll be a real improvement? Roy Taylor, 82, made the point that so many have been making, telling the Express & Star, “I think it would be better if they just improved the island instead of all the hassle they are going to with these lights.”
There’s certainly lots of hassle to come, and there’s been lots of money thrown at this, the end result will be much anticipated, not least by those who depend on these roads and have funded the maze of traffic lights about to be planted.
The road works at Burnt Tree Island are underway despite objections from business leaders and the general public who dubbed the £12.3m project costly and counter-productive and, right from the off, it’s looking as though there may well be another sting in the pocket for taxpayers.
Chris Kelly, the Managing Director of locally based Keltruck, recently warned in an Express & Star feature that traffic chaos would ensue (having previously made the case for ditching the whole idea in favour of simpler and cheaper solutions – predictably this feel on deaf ears…) and sure enough he has been vindicated as the same newspaper interviewed road users facing a painful 18months of tailbacks and delays in today’s issue.
And those who live within striking distance of the roadworks aren’t merely ‘ticked off’, they’re threatening to sue for the many months of inconvenience they’re facing. Spying an opportunity, canny chartered surveyors have been offering their services to help claim compensation and nearby resident Linda Jones, who has two young sons to take to school every morning come September, is amongst the first to enter talks and make preparations for a legal challenge.
It certainly looks as though the price of a new Burnt Tree Island is set to escalate, plundering more for the public purse to placate aggrieved homeowners and local businesses, many of who rejected the plans to start with.
Doris Smith, 78, hasn’t left home for a week because of the disruption and Paul Harwood, 59, is thinking of swapping his car for a scooter to weave through the mounting traffic.
What a palaver, made worse by the fact that this disorder was predicted long ago, and once the work is finished who’s to say they’ll be a real improvement? Roy Taylor, 82, made the point that so many have been making, telling the Express & Star, “I think it would be better if they just improved the island instead of all the hassle they are going to with these lights.”
There’s certainly lots of hassle to come, and there’s been lots of money thrown at this, the end result will be much anticipated, not least by those who depend on these roads and have funded the maze of traffic lights about to be planted.