The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
RHUBARB BRIDGE WORKS CAUSE TRAFFIC CHAOS
Motorists have been hit by long delays at Rhubarb Bridge after the number of lanes for traffic was reduced without warning.
A series of near misses for contractors working on a road project at the bridge had led to a second lane of traffic being coned off by the A47/A15 junction, near Brotherhood Shopping Park, on Monday without any warning.
This left just one lane for motorists to use at the popular junction and caused lengthy queues throughout the day.
Bus users have been among those affected, with Stagecoach announcing that commuters would face delays of up to 30 minutes.
Other motorists took to social media to reveal that their journeys had been even longer.
The road scheme, which will see structural repairs made to Rhubarb Bridge, is being carried out by Skanska on behalf of Peterborough City Council and will run until winter 2019.
As well as the bridge repairs, pedestrian crossings are being installed at the slip roads, as well as an extra lane on the roundabout and upgrades to street lighting and traffic signals.
The first time motorists were informed that a second lane had been closed to traffic came late on Monday morning from Peterborough City Council, which explained there had been “health and safety issues”.
On Tuesday morning the authority said the change would be made permanent with extended working hours - during the initial phase of works. This was to protect the “safety of the workforce” as there had been a “number of incidents” when two lanes were in use.
However, on Tuesday afternoon a council spokesman confirmed another change, this time revealing that two lanes of traffic will be open during peak times, but a single lane during the hours between 9.30am to 3.30pm.