Angry Kingswinford drivers ‘giving up and going home’ amid nightmare traffic jam
Locals living just off a main road in Kingswinford have hit out at the ‘congestion and chaos’ caused by ongoing roadworks.
Some parents have even abandoned their cars during the school run given the ‘nightmare’ works on Stallings Lane.
The disruption is down to the installation of a rising main sewer for the new housing estate at Oak Lane. Residents, meanwhile, are far from happy given the sheer congestion throughout rush hour.
Posting on Facebook, local resident Sarah Hewitt said: “It would help if idiots stopped blocking the island to let residents off and back on Catesby View. It’s an absolute joke and selfish, really.”
Another resident, who asked not to be named, commented: “The problem we are having on the Catesby View estate is that because of the lights causing the traffic build-up, people are blocking the island - therefore residents can’t get off and onto the estate. They shouldn’t be blocking the island and it’s causing a lot of frustration for us.”
Bev Jackson simply put: “It would be great if people would not block the entrances on to all the estates.”
Tracy Wood posted: “Should have 9am to 3pm lights. It was horrendous this morning and no signs out saying lights were going up. There were 20 cars in front of me to get off the Himley View estate and I was just there for a cat sitting.”
Dean Harvey said: “I sat there for 20 minutes this morning. Ridiculous.”
Meanwhile Victoria Pinion fumed: “I’ve given up and come home and will just have to walk to work. I had to dump my daughter with another school mum I saw in the queue. Wish they would give us some notice at least! Think I’ll be making a complaint to Dudley Council because we are always affected when they put traffic lights up but never this bad before!"
And Gail Nicholls said: “An hour to leave the Himley estate drop to Kingswinford School and get back home. No warning and, yes, I understand work may need to be done but how about a: communication to local residents and businesses and b: can it be done between 9-3 to alleviate the congestion and chaos we all experienced this morning.”
Addressing residents’ concerns in Kingswinford, Shaz Saleem, former Dudley Council cabinet member for highways, said: “The works are not National Grid works, but are works being completed under a private street works licence in order to install a rising main for the sewer to the new development at Oak Lane.
“The traffic management that is in operation for these works is a four-way signal and they are being manually controlled. However the operative on site has reported multiple problems with drivers running the red lights. This is then causing him to have to hold the signals on an all-red phase until the driver committing the illegal act has cleared the system.
“They have changed the frequency that the signals are operating at, in case this was also a contributory factor. Unfortunately, due to the delay, this is in some cases causing others to believe the signals are stuck on red and running the lights themselves, leading to a repeat of the cycle.”
The works will be ongoing until June 30. Work will then commence on nearby Moss Grove throughout the six-week holidays. Work will then recommence on Stallings Lane for another two to three weeks until water main installation is completed.
