Road delays set to continue into new year
ROADWORKS that have been causing traffic chaos for motorists in Weir are set to continue into the New Year.
Electricity North West (ENW) have been digging up a section of Burnley Road since August to lay 2.5km new cabling and say the £346,000 project means that 467 residents will receive a long lasting and reliable power supply.
However, drivers have been complaining of long delays as a result of the temporary traffic light system.
Tom Copley said he was frustrated to see that work was apparently ‘completed’ but the lights were still in place.
But ENW say the holes had been filled temporarily for ‘safety reasons’.
A spokesperson said: “Engineers are reopening the holes to now connect the new cables which have been installed. We are unable to leave the trenches open for safety reasons.
“We will pause work for a couple of weeks over Christmas and then we will be back to complete the project by the end of January.”
Mr Copley said: “I am sure the vast majority of drivers and their passengers appreciate that queues up to essential road works are just part of how society functions but sitting in a queue up to road works which have been completed or have not started just causes frustration and resentment towards the utilities.”
Rossendale MP Jake Berry said he shared Mr Copley’s ‘frustration’, as the borough’s geography intensified traffic problems.
He said: “It’s incredibly annoying when you’re sat in traffic because one of the utility companies decide that they need to dig up a road for repairs. To add insult to injury it’s not unusual to get to the site of the repairs to see nothing happening.
“I’ve written to all the major utility companies to remind them of this and requested that they ensure that any works are planned for times when traffic flow is at its lightest and that night time work should be planned for any work on our major roads in Rossendale.”
He added that he is backing a proposed government ‘lane rental’ scheme whereby utility companies pay a daily fee to councils to rent roads during works.
Michael Dawes, ENW operations manager, said: “Digging up local roads is never easy for local residents and businesses so we would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their patience and support to allow us to carry out this essential work safely.”
Mr Dawes added that ENW substation works which left 82 Bacup homes without power on Wednesday, November 29 were coordinated with the Weir work in order to minimise disruption.