Motorists braced for roadworks misery

Commuters in Staffordshire are facing weeks of roadworks misery as resurfacing work causes major congestion. The work, which is costing Staffordshire Highways £150,000, started on Monday on the Rugeley Road over Cannock Chase at an area known as The Pools.

It is the main road between Cannock and Rugeley. Bosses at Staffordshire County Council say the roadworks are essential to keep the road, a key route across the Chase beauty spot, in good working order.

It is estimated the resurfacing could take up to three weeks to complete and will involve the closure of one lane.

Temporary traffic lights have been installed to regulate the traffic but this has caused some severe delays at rush hour times.

Transport bosses say the situation will be monitored to ensure any delays are kept to a minimum.

Jeremy Herbert, spokesman for Staffordshire County Council, said: "This work is part of annual programme of revitalisation to the Staffordshire highways network.

"We have 3,500 miles of road in Staffordshire and we as a council have to make sure that every couple of decades it is renewed. In the middle of that we do things like this where we re-surface the road every 10 years or so."

Mr Herbert said the roadworks on the Rugeley Road were vital in order to keep the road open to traffic.

He said: "The work will improve the road surface to keep it in a good condition before we have to reconstruct the whole road. These are essential improvements to the road network."

Mr Herbert said the work could be delayed if predicted bad weather hits the area.

"Obviously we will try to be completed on time but if we get days of bad weather then it may take longer."