Protest launched to change five-months of roadworks on major Stratford route
CONCERNS have been raised by Stratford Liberal Democrats that the safety improvements to the A439 Warwick Road will cause traffic chaos in other parts of the town.
The road is due to be closed northbound for up to five months from mid-February to allow a series of improvements to take place, such a new turning lane and resurfacing work.
But in a statement calling for the scheme to be postponed, the Lib Dems said alternatives need to be considered to keep the road open in both directions, such as staged re-surfacing with two-way traffic flow and temporary traffic lights.
“Liberal Democrat district councillors have grave concerns about the county council’s proposed improvements to the A439 Warwick Road out of Stratford that will close the road northbound for five months and could block the adjacent Birmingham Road with diverted traffic,” the group said.
Stratford District Council leader, Cllr Susan Juned (Lib Dem, Alcester East) has demanded urgent talks with the county council over the proposals, which would see a one-way system and a diversion in place.
The Lib Dems claim Cllr Roger Harding’s Stratford Welcombe ward would be seriously affected by the measures.
“Birmingham Road will be at a standstill and potentially gridlocked,” he said. “It is currently at capacity, taking 18,000 vehicles a day. There is no chance that it will cope with an extra 7,500 vehicles a day – about 700 of these additional vehicles would be HGV lorries.
“We all know what happens at the Arden Street junction with Birmingham Road. With that many extra vehicles, it will soon become blocked. The tailback will stretch back along Arden Street towards Evesham Road. Guild Street will lock up right back to Clopton Bridge and beyond.”
He added: “How are my residents supposed to drive out of the area if they can’t get onto the A439 towards Warwick? They are going to find it impossible to turn right onto Guild Street, which passes right through my ward.”
The A439 needs re-surfacing more often than other A class roads, said Cllr Harding, because of the number and nature of bends in the road and the proportion of HGV lorries it carries.
But calling for the proposed A439 scheme to be postponed, he argued that the road should be just re-surfaced and re-lined. “This will take a fraction of the time and, I believe, will be just as effective,” he said. “Even a total plane and re-surface with hot rolled asphalt will take a fraction of the time and two-way flow can be maintained with temporary traffic signals.”
Warwickshire county councillor Tim Sinclair (Cons, Stratford North) last week told the Herald the project was necessary because it addressed residents’ concerns about speeding, dangerous parking and the high accident rate on the A439.
“These safety works are important and in my view the sooner we get them completed the better,” he said. “As much as we’d all like a magic wand to wave and have them done instantly, in reality it’s a balancing act of the practicalities involved.
“The officers will use their expertise and professionalism to take all the different factors into account and come to their decision. I’m sure a lot of people will have a view, and nobody likes roadworks, but it’s important that it’s those with the necessary skills and expertise that hold sway.”
He added: “The Liberal Democrats are no experts on this project – this is part of a broader political campaign. I’ve had conversations with the highway officers and it’s hoped this work will get done really quickly, although it may be protracted at times.”
Birmingham Road
THE Liberal Democrats raised the prospect of Stratford facing two lots of major roadworks at once, but that’s not so, insists Warwickshire County Council.
The Warwick Road scheme is due to start on 19th February while phase two of the Birmingham Road improvement works was scheduled to start early in 2024.
But as the Herald reported in November, when the county announced it was scaling back some of its previous plans, the ‘cycling and walking improvements will start early next year subject to other roadworks taking place’.
Yesterday (Wednesday), the council said: “Our routine maintenance team have works programmed and booked for 11th February to carry out carriageway patching repairs at various locations along Birmingham Road, which will be completed in advance of the works on the A439 Warwick Road commencing.”
It could take much longer…
THE lead engineer on the Warwick Road project answers key questions:
What dates are involved?
Main construction works are planned to start on Monday 19th February with a one-way system introduced overnight on Sunday, 18th February, so it should be in place early hours on Monday, 19th February. The work is scheduled to last from this date until Friday, 28th June.
What options did highway engineers have with this project?
Option 1: Full road closure. This would have enabled work to be carried out more efficiently and would have been a much safer option for delivering the works and assisting in controlling pedestrian movements whilst the works are ongoing. Something a lot of people don’t take into account as motorists is the fact we also have to consider the safety of pedestrians when carrying out major works and they take precedence over motorists. However, this option would have doubled the impact on Birmingham Road.
Option 2: Working under temporary traffic signals was considered but this would result in slowing down the works, doubling the delivery time, creating 12 months of constant traffic queues, more aggravation and annoyance to motorists, potentially deterring visitors to Stratford and the businesses along the route
Option 3: The preferred option allowed traffic to flow into Stratford uninterrupted and although it would cause an inconvenience to residents and businesses along the A439, access is maintained. This option relies on using the A3400 as the diversion route for Warwick/M40 bound traffic as there is no other alternative or suitable route. There is constant pressure from traffic already using the A3400 Birmingham Road but there is no other route available and therefore this was unavoidable. A difficult situation but the net gain will be a much safer network for everyone.
