Frustrated motorists held up at temporary traffic lights near La Salerie, where repairs to a rattling manhole cover did not cure sufficiently for the wear coat to be laid until this morning. (Picture by John O’Neill, 0654837)
DRIVERS were stuck in jams for more than an hour yesterday as they waited for tarmac to dry. One 26-year-old St Peter Port resident said the tailbacks were the worst he had ever seen in Guernsey.
‘It took me half an hour to get from Candie Gardens to the bottom of St Julian’s Avenue and an hour to get to work. I was very late,’ he said.
When he finally reached the cause of the problem – temporary traffic lights at Salerie Corner – there was no sign of any work. ‘There was nothing going on and nobody there which begs the question, why keep the road closed through rush hour?’
Head of transport for Public Services Peter Tidd dismissed claims that the lights were not needed. ‘The work was on a manhole that needed to be replaced by a more modern version,’ he said.
‘The manhole needed to be rebuilt in concrete which would have needed a while to set before heavy traffic could go back over it.’
The concrete had not cured enough to have tarmac laid on top until this morning, he said.
‘They worked through the weekend in order to minimise traffic hold-ups but the materials have to cure before they can be driven over.’
A Public Services spokesman said the repairs involved work to an underground chamber as well as the manhole.
An Environment spokesman said the work had been completed by late morning.
‘The road was tarmaced first thing this morning and the temporary traffic lights have now been removed,’ he said.
The queues stretched from the Weighbridge roundabout to the Rohais in one direction and back past Frossard House in another.
Tailbacks along La Vrangue and Route de la Ramee met at Route des Longs Camps.
One mother of five on the school run, Samantha Gray, said she had been driving for hours.
‘I was stuck in traffic all the way through St Martin’s to Hautes Capelles School and now we are stuck in more traffic trying to reach Delancey. It’s just horrendous today.’
Traffic sergeant John Tostevin said motorists had been warned and could have planned ahead.
‘Now and again these major arteries have to be shut, but the closures are advertised and people should pick alternative routes,’ he said.
‘Environment does its best and everyone works hard to ensure the roads stay in good condition and open.’
Article posted on 14th October, 2008 - 2.29pm
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