HUGE TAILBACKS AS MOTORISTS SUFFER 41-MINUTE DIVERSION
Busy route is currently closed for repairs
POLICE have been drafted in to help ease the traffic chaos as week-long roadworks cause tailbacks between Cheshire and Staffordshire.
Mossley crossroads – between Biddulph and Congleton – is currently closed off forcing motorists to divert across Boundary Lane.
But social media pictures showed police officers directing the traffic as it passed Mossley CE Primary School.
A Cheshire Police spokesman said: “Police attended Boundary Lane following reports of a high number of vehicles at around 3pm on Monday. Officers assisted in calming the flow of traffic.”
Included in the tailbacks around Mossley on Monday were motorists travelling between the two towns.
According to One.network, motorists from Biddulph face a 41-minute diversion route due to the roadworks. This takes them towards Tunstall, along James Brindley Way and Reginald Mitchell Way, before connecting to the A34 on Peacock Hay Road and through Scholar Green.
Connor Brady, who represents
Biddulph on Staffordshire Moorlands District Council, is not surprised by the lengthy diversion.
He said: “Biddulph often gets overlooked when it comes to roadworks, footpaths and highways improvements.
“It is no surprise that people have been left struggling to get to Congleton, which is a town many Biddulph residents travel to daily.”
A Cheshire East Council spokesman said the work was being carried out at ‘non-peak’ times.
A spokesman said: “We are undertaking extensive road resurfacing work at this busy junction in Mossley as part of our ongoing highways improvement programme.
“This work is likely to continue until March 31, although work is restricted to non-peak time hours and no work is taking place at weekends to minimise disruption.
“We have provided sufficient advanced warning signs to motorists and diversion routes are in place. We have also delivered letters to local residents and businesses and notified road users through the Cheshire East highways Twitter account.
“We apologise for the inconvenience, but this is a busy route in and out of Congleton and, because of the nature of the work being undertaken, traffic delays are, unfortunately, unavoidable.”
The road is set to be closed to motorists until March 31 between 9am and 4.30pm daily.