Opening of relief road delayed until Christmas

Residents may have to wait until Christmas

A new road, designed to ease traffic congestion, may not open until Christmas - two years later than planned.

The Eastern Relief Road was supposed to connect two parts of Melksham in 2022 but is now delayed so Wiltshire Council can finish further works.

Local residents have expressed concerns over delays, and councillor Jon Hubbard blamed the council for "mismanagement".

Wiltshire Council said its officers are "working hard" to finish the works and open the route to through traffic.

Councillor Nick Holder, cabinet member for highways on Wiltshire Council, said they "could have been a little bit more robust" with the developer.

The council said the road can open as soon as a pedestrian crossing is in place, signage is added and final surfacing works are done.

'Lorries are constant noise'

Councillor Jon Hubbard, who represents Melksham on the town council and Wiltshire Council, said: "To now be pointing to further work as a delaying factor is really highlighting a mismanagement on their part, because they haven't bothered to build what they knew they would need.

"All of a sudden there are a new set of reasons why Wiltshire Council can't get the job done."

Local resident Harry Fossey told the BBC: "From 06:00 BST it's a constant noise.

"Some of the houses that are closer to the road, over the years, have had structural damage because of the lorries.

"Somebody recently said their house shakes with the vehicles going past, it keeps them awake. It's a nuisance."

Councillor Jon Hubbard says the council "haven't bothered to build what they knew they would need"

Defending the work of the council Mr Holder said: "The road needs to be safe. There would be no point opening a new road if it wasn't safe, either for pedestrians or for the traffic."

"I would like to say to the residents of Melksham we're working extremely hard with the developer's sub-contractor to get this road opened as soon as possible."

Wiltshire Council also said officers are looking into a potential 40mph limit on the relief road, and a final decision will be made in due course.

Final surfacing works still needs to take place