Taxi firm loses up to 400 bookings-a-week as town centre roadworks cause chaos

A taxi firm fed up with the number of roadworks in a town centre has sent a formal complaint to the Government - branding the county council 'totally and utterly incompetent'. Three major routes into Stafford [1] have been affected by roadworks which has led to gridlock, hundreds of lost bookings each week, and lengthier journeys for customers. Now Aerobrights has slammed Staffordshire County Council's highways department for its handling of the situation which is affecting routes including the A449 Wolverhampton Road and Chell Road in the town centre.

It has submitted a letter of complaint to Transport Minister Mark Harper and Stafford MP Theo Clarke saying the roadworks have been 'poorly planned' and allowed to go on for weeks and months longer than necessary. It means self-employed drivers are refusing to work at peak times because of the traffic issues. READ: Driver wins GBP46k council payout for hitting monster pothole in Stoke-on-Trent as 978 make claims [2] - Stoke-on-Trent City Council has paid GBP371,914 in compensation to drivers since 2020

READ: Council to repair this pothole-plagued Stoke-on-Trent rat-run | There are large potholes on Redhills Road between Milton and Birches Head [3] Driver Bill Armstrong says it took him an hour to complete a round trip from Staffordshire Technology Park to Stafford Station on May 2. He added: "It's complete gridlock.

When we had the big motorway closure it took 30 minutes to get from the station to Tesco to pick somebody up. It's losing us as much as 200 to 400 jobs a week and drivers are paid by the job, so it's really affecting their income. "You can't earn extra money while you're sitting there with the engine running, wasting fuel. The pollution is going to be astronomical.

(Image: Kerry Ashdown)

"There's no management of the roadworks and no incentive for people to get the job done quickly - usually you see one person working and six standing around on their phones or watching.

Chell Road is officially going to take nine months but it never needed doing from the start. "What is really needed is an eastern bypass - that has been needed for 50 years and now everybody in Wildwood and Baswich is complaining about traffic. Work has been done from the fire station to Tixall Road, but it was supposed to have gone all the way round to Junction 13 of the M6.

In the winter you can get three motorway snarl-ups a week- and Stafford grinds to a halt every single time." Fellow cabbie Graeme Jenkins said: "There does not seem to be a plan to cope for the normal rush-hour traffic from 3pm onwards. Add to that extraordinary events like the M6 being closed and you have pandemonium with every side road blocked, taking hours to get through Stafford.

"What is this doing to the commercial life of Stafford, its future, reputation and pollution and where is the planning and support? This is an unbearable set of circumstances for people living and working in Stafford. "Why is one job allowed to start before the first is finished and why does every job run over its time?

Why are subsidiary works allowed to start when there is enough traffic disruption already? "This is just poor management. There does not seem to be any traffic management around the supporting roads to help ease the overall problem.

I meet all spectrums of the Stafford population and they are all totally disgusted with the town management - the devastation of the town centre, which I understand is a national problem, but mainly the extensive ongoing roadworks for a cycle lane nobody seems to want. They would prefer the money spent on giving us back the town centre, lighted properly, with character." Staffordshire County Council [4] says the works on the A449 Wolverhampton Road works are for 'essential repairs'.

Housing developer Taylor Wimpey is behind the roadworks at Beaconsided. Councillor Mark Deaville, cabinet member for strategic highways, said: "I fully understand the frustration these road improvements are causing and apologise for the inconvenience to drivers. Our residents have told us that the quality of Staffordshire's roads is a priority to them, as it is to us.

Unfortunately, carrying out these works often causes delays, for which we are very sorry, but it is essential we fix our roads in a timely manner. "We always review how we could better manage works in the future. The main works around the town are seeing over GBP16 million investment in the town's road network, bringing long-term and lasting improvements for years to come and unfortunately in this case need to be carried out now due to funding and planning requirements."

Roadworks taking place in Stafford

A513 Beaconside to Redhill roundabout at A34: Works began at the start of 2024 and due to last 13 months. They include dualling of A513 Beaconside, between Stone Road and Marston Lane including the signalisation of the existing junction with Parkside Avenue, creation of a new signalised junction on the north side of the A513 and the signalisation of Newbold Drive, reconfiguration of the existing A34 roundabout at the junction with A513 Beaconside and A34 from M6 roundabout at Creswell to a signalised roundabout. and carriageway widening and installation of permanent traffic signals.
A449 Wolverhampton Road from Kwik Fit Roundabout to Ingestre Road/Railway bridge: Works began on March 4 and are expected to take 11 weeks. They include drainage repairs, kerbing, footway patching and carriageway resurfacing.
Chell Road, Foregate Street and Castle Hill: Work to create an active travel scheme began in September 2023 and is linked to a Gaol Square signal upgrade and carriageway resurfacing scheme on Chell Road/Gaol Square that started in March and is due to be completed in May 2024.
Sandon Bridge at B5066 Sandon Road: Work began in February and is due to take place until June.

Work includes replacing the deck waterproofing system, strengthening weak service bays and widening existing footpaths for combined pedestrian and cyclist use.
Dunston Bridge, School Lane: Work to provide a new bridge started in February and is due to take 16 weeks.

References

^ Stafford (www.stokesentinel.co.uk)
^ Driver wins GBP46k council payout for hitting monster pothole in Stoke-on-Trent as 978 make claims (www.stokesentinel.co.uk)
^ Council to repair this pothole-plagued Stoke-on-Trent rat-run | There are large potholes on Redhills Road between Milton and Birches Head (www.stokesentinel.co.uk)
^ Staffordshire County Council (www.stokesentinel.co.uk)