'Shambles': Barton Seagrave's roadwork misery

Motorists say they're fed up of roadworks which are causing misery in Barton Seagrave - and they're set to remain for a few weeks yet.

Work started last week where the busy Barton Road meets Cranford Road, with Western Power Distribution (WPD) carrying out part of their £10m electricity upgrade and Cadent diverting a gas main.

Three-way temporary traffic lights are currently in operation 24 hours a day so that those on-site can work safely.

But the roadworks have caused huge delays, with queues stretching beyond Warkton Lane and even onto the A14 roundabout at times.

The lights are now being manned between the hours of 7am and 7pm to help manage traffic flow.

A Cadent spokesman said: “Engineers are on-site carrying out work to divert a gas main, as part of nearby works, until early April.

“We’ve planned this closely with the local authority and others, with temporary traffic lights - which are now manned for 12 hours a day, seven days a week - necessary to ensure the safety of our teams and road users, travelling around the work area.

“We recognise there has been some disruption but we hope people understand this is important work to ensure energy continues to flow safely and reliably.”

A WPD spokesman said the traffic management is under the control of Cadent and they were sorry to hear of the traffic issues.

Last week North Northamptonshire Council's highways team said they had asked for a review of the lights but that the biggest issue was people jumping red signals.

One social media user hit out at Kettering's clogged roads, branded the traffic management as 'embarrassing' and described the roadworks as a 'shambles'.

They said: "I have to take a (sic) 8 mile detour to avoid the lights misery and with rising fuel costs just know your (sic) making life difficult financially for a lot of people."

Others others have complained of lights being stuck on red and cars having to turn in the road to escape the queues.

One woman described it as 'carnage'.

Matters were made worse in recent days because of a burst water main in nearby Polwell Lane on Friday (March 11).

Temporary traffic lights were also installed there, with Anglian Water saying they were necessary so workers could safely repair the pipe and for the safety of road users.

Yesterday (Monday) an Anglian Water spokesman said the repair had been completed and that they expected to remove the lights by the end of the day. They thanked people for their patience.

Roadwork website One Network lists WPD's work as finishing by April 1. Cadent's works are down as finishing by April 15.