The Dutch would not stand for road chaos, why do we?
Over the past few days, signs were put up on the A495 near Llynclys Crossroads and on the B4396 close to the village of Llanyblodwel, advising (initially) that the road would be closed on June 5 during normal working hours. Soon after, the portable information signs and others were updated to state that the road would be closed for six weeks from the 5th.
When I accessed the Shropshire Council website to review the statements and map, it is obvious that thousands of people are likely to face extensive (and expensive) diversions for an extended period.
Of course it takes a great deal of training and skill to select the busiest time of the year to close such a major road. To make matters worse, I defy anyone to make sense of the description of the diversion and the associated map which is incomprehensible. But if I understand it correctly, a very short section of road will result in many miles of diversions for six entire weeks.
I have a Dutch friend staying with us who is one of the top civil (roads and bridges) engineers in the Netherlands. I showed him the details and the map (references below for editorial help), then took him to where it appears the road will be closed for this period. He burst out laughing and said “in Holland, this little job would be completed in six days or less, not six weeks. Our people would never stand for such incompetence and massive financial waste.”
I then took him north to the work still being carried out on the A483 between Gledrid roundabout and the top of the Chirk bypass. Again, he could not believe that such “a small project” would take so long and that “the UK taxpayers are much too lenient.”
There is no doubt that these ill-timed road closures will have a damning effect on the business community that is already hard-pressed, and the extra cost of fuel and lost time will generate a massive and well-deserved reaction against such ill-conceived actions.
David Griffiths, Llanfyllin
