Staffordshire drivers set for summer misery
Drivers are facing a long hot summer of misery on the roads as FIVE main routes undergo work.
Hilltop in Hednesford, Five Ways Island in Heath Hayes and the A34 in Cannock join the A513 in Milford and Beaconside in Stafford in being ripped up in the coming weeks.
Hilltop will be closed from July 31 until August 11 while Staffordshire County Council look to fix potholes. It is a similar story for Five Ways Island, which will be closed from August 21 until August 30.
The first major disruption in Cannock Chase will come on Monday when temporary traffic lights are put in place on the A34 Stafford Road. The lights will be in place at the junction with Cardinal Way until September 8 as Western Power Distribution digs trenches for a new electric supply.
George Adamson, leader of Cannock Chase Council, said: “It will be gridlock in the district, this should have been co-ordinated better.”
In Stafford, starting on Monday, July 24, the A513, linking Milford and Weeping Cross, will be shut in two phases.Severn Trent Water is working on the road’s surface and the work should be finished in September.
Also in Stafford, Beaconside, near the junction with the A34, will become a 30mph zone from July 20 with a new set of traffic lights. The road is also set to become a dual carriageway with two more sets of lights, but this work is not expected to get under way until the turn of the year. The 30mph zone will be in place from the roundabout to the second Parkside Avenue junction until January 2019. It is normally a 50mph route.
Helen Fisher, the county council’s cabinet support member for highways, said: “The work needs doing and it’s been scheduled for a time when the volume of traffic on the roads begins to reduce. We thank people for their patience and trust they understand good roads are essential.”
She added: “As the highways authority we do seek to coordinate work by utility companies and housing developers as much as possible, but it’s inevitable that investment in the county means that infrastructure will have to be created, or upgraded, to support new housing and industrial estates.”
