Stafford car park flooding blackspot finally plugged
A flooding hotspot which has seen cars swamped below rainwater is being filled in – much to the delight of people in the town.
Work is under way to alleviate flooding problems at the Doxey Road car and lorry park, in Stafford, meaning drivers’ nightmares on the site next to Sainsbury’s will soon be over after years of problems.
The car park has often been affected by flooding during periods of bad weather and has been forced to close on numerous occasions in the past.
The work, which is being carried out by Staffordshire County Council, will eventually form the entrance to the Western Access Route.
Earlier this year, the driver of a Mercedes had to be rescued by firefighters after the £40,000 car was caught stranded in the flood water.
The lorry park closed shortly after and has remained shut since February 3.
County councillor for Stafford Central, Maureen Compton, was pleased that work had started to combat the problem.
She said: “It’s brilliant that they’re organising to sort out the flooding. It’s been a problem for a long time. It seems like it has always been flooded.
“So to get that sorted will be really good.”
A similar mission to rescue a helpless driver had to be made in November 2016 when a red Ford C-Max got stuck.
Tom Wright, who lives in Doxey, said it ‘was about time’ that something was done about it.
The 21-year-old said: “It seems to get flooded a lot, particularly when it rains in the winter.
“Cars get stuck in there quite a bit as well so it’s about time something was done about it. It is good news to see it won’t be a problem anymore.”
The long-stay car park, which is used by shoppers at Sainsbury’s, has 800 spaces on it.
Councillor Isabella Davies, for the Doxey and Castletown ward, mirrored these comments, adding: “The car park has flooded for years now, it used to come over the other side of the car park.
“People’s cars were flooded there but it won’t be a problem any more. They’ve been doing work all week and it looks good.”
Stafford Borough Council who own the car park said they were happy that work being carried out ‘will help alleviate the problems of flooding there’.
Staffordshire County Council’s economic growth leader Mark Winnington said: “We are carrying out work to fix the flooding problem at the entrance to the long stay car park by raising the level of this section of the access road.
“In the longer term this will provide the entrance to the construction site for the western access route. Meanwhile, the work will mean the car park can remain open after spells of heavy rain.”
