Resurfacing misery for motorists
Motorists using the busy Newport Road in Stafford face another summer of misery with a £579,000 resurfacing scheme to start on July 13.
The work, which will last nine weeks, comes just two years since the A518 Newport Road was hit by major disruption which closed part of the route for several weeks.
Rowley ward councillor David Allan today predicted: "There will be chaos."
He is to have urgent talks with the new county councillor for the area Ivan Jennings to raise his concerns.
Staffordshire Highways will be on site on the 1,200 metres section between West Way, Highfields, and the M6 overbridge from Monday preparing for the start of the project, which depends on having dry weather. Periods of continuous heavy rain could extend the length of the work.
Most of the surfacing will be done at night with footpath and kerbing work in the day.
There will be temporary traffic lights and over night closures of West Way and Sundown Drive at the junctions with Newport Road.
Staffordshire County Council says the work needs to be done because the tarmac is at the end of its useful life. It will be stripped and replaced. New dropped kerbs are being put in at the new bus stop at the entrance to Stafford Castle to make access easier for parents with pushchairs and the disabled.
Highfields and Western Downs councillor Aidan Godfrey said he hoped disruption would be kept to a minimum.
"People I have spoken to have a resigned realism that the work has to be done. I hope that the experience of two years ago will mean that the works have less affect this time," he added.
Lexington Green resident Chris Martin said: "I am angry that the road is going to be dug up again. It's only two years since we had so much trouble on Newport Road.
"I don't know if I will be able to get to work on time."
Councillor Mike Maryon, the county council's cabinet member for highways, says the works had been planned to minimise the impact for both drivers and the community.
* The 2007 closure of the A518 saw claims of "a fiasco" involving the borough and county councils and Severn Trent Water.
A development of only 14 houses caused the closure and the then borough council leader Councillor Judith Dalgarno apologised to motorists and residents about the disruption.
