Just get on with it! Anger over Wolverhampton roadworks for gas main replacement
Frustrated city centre traders are urging workers on a seven-month gas main project to ‘just get on with it’ as they start seeing signs of business dropping.
Mike Brookes of One Way Music in Salop Street, Wolverhampton, said he had barely seen the contractors since they began work on replacing a gas line a week ago.
The project overall is expected to take seven months and will close off various roads for weeks at a time.
Mr Brookes added that many store owners already shut up shop last year in Salop Street after another road scheme destroyed trade, and he fears the same thing will happen again.
The 71 year old has run his shop for 36 years and is concerned about how the next seven months may affect his business.
WATCH: Anger over roadworks
He said: “Only one hole has been dug in one week, no wonder they think it will take seven months.
“There was noise for about half-an-hour and then they disappeared for two hours. I feel like we need to put the pressure on Cadent. We know it needs to be done, so just get on with it. Last year a similar project disrupted us for three months. There are far fewer businesses around now as some people just packed it all in and left.
“The whole idea of trading from a town or city is to get the trade. But when people shut you off it kills the trade, it kills the business.
“I don’t blame the workers but you’d think they’d have a sense of urgency.”
A spokesman for Cadent said staff had been working every day on site and added the scheme was ‘on target’.
“Some of the holes are very deep – more than six feet – and work is taking place behind safety fencing and road closures so they may not be easily visible at times but they are there,” they said.
“We are doing this work so local businesses and residents will have safe and reliable gas supplies until the end of the century. Once the new pipe is in the ground we won’t need to come back for at least 80 years.
“We are very mindful that this is a sensitive, city centre location and we are working to complete this essential work as soon as possible. Our engineers have been on site every day throughout the project and are making good progress.
“We are replacing a very large, 20 inch gas main – the size of a car tyre – believed to date back to the 1800s. This is a challenging and complex job, with our engineers working in large excavations, some more than six feet deep, to complete this essential work.”
