Anger at 41-mile detour round 65ft of roadworks
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MOTORISTS have hit out at a “crazy” 41-mile diversion to get around a short stretch of roadworks.
The section of the A352 in Dorset will be closed all next week for work to repair a sewage system.
Although just 65ft of carriageway will be affected, highway officials have worked out an alternative route that measures 41 miles.
The distance usually takes about a second to cover while travelling at the 30mph speed limit.
But the official diversion will take an hour – drastically increasing levels of carbon dioxide emissions as well as fuel costs to motorists.
Cars and lorries will detour from Godmanstone south along the A352 towards Dorchester, before turning north on the A37.
Ridiculous
Vehicles will cross the border into Yeovil, Somerset, before joining the A30 towards Sherborne.
Finally, drivers will travel south back into Dorset, passing through the villages of Middlemarsh, Minterne Magna and Cerne Abbas.
Anyone caught using the closed stretch of road will be handed a £1,000 fine.
Dorset County Council said the detour “has to be suitable for the type of traffic that would normally use the closed section”.
However Heather Chapman, who runs Green Valley Yurts near to the closure, said: “It’s just crazy and there doesn’t seem to be any logic to it. It’s a ridiculous route and everybody who’s local will just ignore it and go different ways. Luckily my daughter is on half-term while the work is going on otherwise getting her to school could have been difficult.”
Resident Steve Smith said: “Where are Extinction Rebellion when you need them? This is what they should be protesting about.
“Campaigning against stupid decisions like this would get them sympathy instead of stopping trains that carry hundreds of people.”
A council spokesman said: “The closure has been requested to allow Dorset Drainage Services to make a sewer connection within the highway.This is anA road so we have used other A roads for the diversion. Smaller local traffic will undoubtedly use lower-classified roads to bypass the closure.”
SHE’S been around for donkey’s years... but is still young at heart.
Meet Bubbles, the world’s oldest donkey, who has just turned 60.
The lovable ass has been welcoming visitors at Hatton Adventure World, Warwickshire, for 20 years, and remains one of the centre’s main attractions.
Bubbles moved to the farm at
40 – the age most donkeys expect to live to.
Richard Craddock, the manager at Hatton, said Bubbles has been around for as long as he has.
He said: “I’ve been here as long as Bubbles. She’s been here since the beginning and she’s still going strong.
“She first arrived when we opened the farm in the early 1990s. We’ve had a lot of other donkeys since, but Bubbles was our very first.
“We’ve all grown up with her over the years.
“She does look her age now but she’s still young at heart.”
Bubbles is believed to have been born in 1959 and celebrated her 60th birthday with a special delivery of carrots and a cake.
Despite her age Richard said Bubbles is still as loving as ever.
He said: “She’s very placid, and very popular. She loves the attention. She’s like a grandma, a firm favourite with the staff.”