Stratford roadworks a 'comedy of errors'

James Morrison said he was scared to cross the road because workers kept moving the crossing

People in Stratford-upon-Avon have criticised long-running roadworks on one of the town's busiest routes that have left traffic at a standstill and some residents unable to access their front doors.

Work has been taking place on Birmingham Road since at least April, as part of work designed to improve traffic flow into the town centre.

One blind resident said he was "scared" to cross the road because the temporary pedestrian crossing kept being moved by workers.

Warwickshire County Council has apologised for the disruption and said it was working with the contractor to make sure the final two weeks of works were completed as smoothly as possible.

James Harrison started to lose his sight in 2019 and uses a stick to help him get around. He relies on safety features on the pavement surface and a rotary device on pedestrian crossing controls to get across safely.

"It's become so bad, that I don't even go to the gym up here any more," he said.

"I'm scared to cross the road in case I walk into oncoming traffic, there's been a number of near misses.

"They are just moving things around so much - the temporary crossing has moved multiple times during the works and the current one is right next to a fence, which I can't see, and it doesn't make a sound, so how do I know how to cross?"

A two-mile journey can take over an hour

Brenda Ashfield, meanwhile, lives on the road and the temporary traffic lights are currently right outside her front door.

"We had little to no notice of this work, I'm not very mobile and at one point I couldn't get to my front door," she said.

"We've been in Stratford 49 years and I've never known anything like this, the noise, the traffic, and the lights, they are always stuck on red."

On the day I visited, it took over an hour to travel some two miles. According to local residents and businesses that is a daily occurrence.

Brenda Ashfield said she'd had little to no notice about the roadworks outside her front door.

Guy Esnouf travels into Stratford from outside of town and uses the Birmingham Road on a regular basis.

"It is just standing room only along this road, it's become a bit of local joke, a comedy of errors if you will," he said.

"This is one of the busiest roads in Warwickshire - the traffic during the works just shows you how poorly thought out this has been."

Trade has also been affected in the town, businesses say.

Chris Rowberry runs Hatton Electrical wholesale and said he had seen a drop in customers.

The temporary traffic lights at the junction of Birmingham Road and Arden Street has been described by local residents as "confusing"

"We've had over a year of this nearly because work started further up Birmingham Road 12 months ago," he said.

"Not only have customers struggled to get to us, couriers have turned down deliveries because they don't want to wait in the endless traffic jams."

In a statement, Warwickshire County Council said: "We accept that, as with all highways improvement schemes, people's journeys have been disrupted.

"Wherever possible, we have tried to adapt to minimise the impact, and we have continuously responded to residents queries."