UK’s longest running roadworks still plaguing drivers 11 years on

Roadworks and three-way signals for a couple of days? That’s nothing.

That is, if you ask drivers who have been trapped in a limbo of roadworks for 11 years in Witham, Essex.

The scheme on the A12 bridge has been labelled the UK’s longest-running roadworks site after the mind-numbing operation.

And the motorists’ agony is not ending anytime soon – locals have now been told it could take another 12 months before the project is completed.

Fed-up locals have even given the roadworks site a pin on Google Maps, and it has gained 52 five-star reviews from commuters on TripAdvisor, calling it ‘Witham’s most famous attraction.’

One tongue-in-the-cheek review said: ‘The excitement when approaching the bridge is palpable. Will the lights be red or green?

‘For sure as you approach and they flicker off green you’ll be sure to run that red light as no one in 10 years has ever come the other way.’

The works started on a bridge over the busy A-road in 2015, with lane closures and temporary traffic lights installed.

But more than a decade later, the project is still ongoing.

Businesses in the area have complained about lost trade while commuters face longer journeys due to the disruption on Woodend Bridge.

For AJ Grand-Scrutton, a local who owns Dlala gaming studio, his four-minute commute can take 45 minutes because of the tailbacks from the works.

He said: ‘My four to eight minute commute can take 45 minutes if there’s a second set of roadworks which compounds the issue.

‘People trying to get from our studio to the station, which is a two-minute drive, end up getting stuck at the top of the road.

‘It does send a message. We have business with Disney, Nintendo and Microsoft which we’re bringing to the Witham economy.

‘When those so-called traffic lights have been there more than ten years, it sends a message about how seriously Witham is being treated.

‘We’re trying to turn this little corner of Essex into a creative area and this contradicts it.’

AJ, whose firm is the only licence holder for the Mickey Mouse outside the US, is concerned that his partners in the industry could be put off by the disruption.

Another resident, who did not wish to be named, said it has been ‘chaos’ on the roads, with a five-minute journey stretching up to half an hour.

They said the bridge is needed for the farmers to get to their fields who cannot use the A12 with farm vehicles.

‘Temporary should mean temporary – or otherwise they should find another way of dealing with it,’ they said.

The bridge has not been repaired due to its expected demolition as part of the A12 widening project in the pipeline, according to a Witham Town Council meeting this month.

However, the A-road widening project has been cast in uncertainty after the expansion was scrapped last year, believed to have been due to budget constraints.

Priti Patel, the Conservative MP for Witham, labelled the cancellation as a ‘disgrace,’ and said that she has written to the Transport Secretary about it.

Meanwhile, National Highways said that the project is ‘complex.’

A replacement bridge beam is due to be installed later this year.

National Highways spokesperson said: ‘Repairing the integral structure of this bridge is complex and much of our focus has been finalising a design that causes the least disruption to drivers who rely on the A12 that runs underneath.

‘We acknowledge the duration that traffic management has been in place for the safety of those using the bridge and apologise for any inconvenience.’

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