Stafford roadworks: Drivers caught out in havoc on the roads as water works start
Scores of motorists were caught out by the start of nine-weeks worth of roadworks set to cause a nightmare for drivers coming into Stafford throughout the summer.
Severn Trent Water closed off the inbound carriageway on the busy Weston Road between Boat Lane and Blackheath Lane yesterday in the latest phase of its £10million sewage improvements.
It prompted bedlam at start of the closure as dozens of drivers were forced to turn around at the car park of the Saracens Head. Many told the Express & Star the roadworks were set to cause them a headache.
Susannah Bennett, aged 19 and from Stafford, works as an au pair and was on the way back from Lichfield. She said: "I live at Staffordshire University and my house is literally on that road. I thought the closure was going to be back up by the bridge which is why I came down thinking it was going to be open. It is going to be massively inconvenient." Another motorist Sid Arun travels regularly through Stafford.
He said: "It is going to take me an extra 15 to 20 minutes now. It is going to be a big problem."
Julia Slater from Derby, had travelled over in the morning to care for her friend on the other side of the works.
She said: "It is going to affect me quite badly." Stafford College student Josh Cosgrove, 18, added: "I didn't see any signs back there to say it was going to be closed. For one side to be closed for nine weeks is ridiculous."
Severn Trent had apologised in advance for any disruption caused to drivers after saying water pipes had become old and prone to bursts in Stafford.
The £10m investment will see 20 kilometres worth of new pipes laid in the Shugborough area leading into Stafford town centre. An additional £5m has been spent to upgrade two sewage pumping stations. Gareth Mead, community manager at Severn Trent, said: "We've been treating sewage in Weston for many years, but the small site is not only now starting to show its age, but it's struggling to cope with increasing amounts of waste water. By building a new sewer and pumping the waste onto Brancote treatment works, we'll be able to treat the sewage more effectively, and in turn improve the quality of the treated water we're putting back into the environment.
"In addition, we'll be able to significantly reduce the amount of vehicles we currently have driving back and forth to the works in Weston.
"Our work to build the new sewer started on Monday 16 May on Blackheath Lane. Unfortunately we needed to close Blackheath Lane for four weeks. The next phase then started on the A518 from June 13 and will continue for nine weeks, with the inbound lane closed between the A51 at Weston and Blackheath Lane."
