TRAFFIC disruption is set to get worse before it gets better on the Warwick Road in Stratford.
The A439 will be closed to traffic overnight and a chicane will be added during the day as the major safety improvement works on a key route in and out of the town enter their final weeks.
And council chiefs have also been forced to address questions from residents about why the workforce stop work at 4pm each day.
Warwickshire County Council said that motorists will see changes to traffic management layouts in the coming weeks to accommodate work on both sides of the carriageway and a chicane will be implemented through the site.
Carriageway resurfacing will begin in early June, carried out at night under a full road closure on weekdays only.
The roadworks – scheduled to last five months – have caused traffic chaos throughout the town due to one-way systems and diversion routes being put in place.
The spokesperson continued: “The council’s network management team are trying their best to coordinate road works in Stratford to ensure congestion is kept to a minimum and the network flows as best as it can. Road space demand in Warwickshire is at a high but the team are trying to carefully plan works in around the Warwick Road scheme, they also try and reduce road works timings to off peak (where this is possible to so) to aid traffic flows at peak times.”
The spokesperson continued: “There have been questions raised by residents about why the workforce stop work at about 4pm each day on the project rather than working into the early evenings. The reason for this is that WCC is principally funding this project with a £1.32million grant from the Department for Transport.
“The council is working with its contractor, Balfour Beatty, to deliver the scheme in as cost effective a way as possible, making best use of that funding. The working patterns employed reflect that. Changing these working patterns would result in increased costs, beyond the scope of the budget.”
The road safety scheme will include a reduction in the speed limit, a protected turning lane at the Ingon Lane junction, which has experienced a high number of collisions, streetlighting to improve visibility of crossing pedestrians at fisherman’s car park, parking restrictions to prevent dangerous parking along the route, an off-road cycle lane, footway provisions which will better connect pedestrians to the town centre, as well as pedestrian crossing points.
It is set to be completed on schedule in July.
