Star comment: Beyond a joke for A49 drivers
The motorists who regularly use the A49 must be some special hardy breed.
Or they could just be people who have no choice.
Still, if they are determined to continue to use the road, come what may, there are more things in the pipeline to test them. Pipelines, for instance.
How do you fancy the prospect of three months of drainage works? These do not rank up there with that complete closure for 10 days at Onibury they had to endure, and they will be mere overnight closures to traffic between Church Stretton and Craven Arms.
This next round of A49 shenanigans begins on September 18, so put that date in your diary. There will be some people who think that this is becoming a joke. But there will be many who think it is already beyond a joke. It does not just affect the long-suffering motorists. It has an impact on the local economy, shops, and businesses, who find themselves temporarily cut off.
Faced with a trip full of hassle, and one that is not full of hassle, we all know which motorists will prefer.
Optimists will comfort themselves with the thought that it will be good to get it over and done with.
Pessimists will predict that all that will happen is the work simply moves on to a different stretch – one unending, rolling programme, like painting the Forth Bridge.
