Latest news with #trafficchaos
Yahoo
a day ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Poorly signposted Hallow road closure causing chaos in village
A ROAD closure has caused traffic chaos as villagers say poor signposting has led scores of drivers to a dead end. The A443 has been shut in Hallow between Saturday (July 19) and Friday (July 24) as Severn Trent conducts maintenance work on pipes beneath the road. However, villagers have complained that this work has not been well signposted on the roads leading to the village, and has resulted in many people continuing to drive into the village, not realising there is no way through. Jed Marson, a resident of Hallow, said: "For drivers unfamiliar with the village, or those with out-of-date digital directions, the journey comes to a jarring halt. "Vehicles drove straight down to the closure, paused in confusion, then either performed hurried U-turns or veered into Banks Close, unaware it was a cul-de-sac. "More than one driver reversed out fast, irritated and barely looking, while others simply turned and floored it back the way they'd come. "This might have been funny if it weren't happening outside of homes, beside a popular shop and cafe, with pedestrians trying to thread their way through the fallout." The shop, Ladygo Stores, and the cafe, No.1 Browns Way Coffee Shop, are run by father and son, Mick Baldwin and Tom Baldwin, respectively, who said the road closure has affected business. Tom said: "It's not great for passing trade, but I remember when it was shut for six weeks, and that was horrendous. "From what I've been told, cars keep having to turn around because it's poorly signposted." In the space of five minutes, Worcester News recorded six cars and a bus travelling towards Worcester forced to U-turn at the roadworks. Mick added: "It affects trade because it's all about passing trade for us so, when cars aren't passing, we tend to lose out. "It's a shame because it was all supposed to be done two years ago, when the road was closed for six weeks. "The road should be back open again on Friday, and it doesn't sound like it will run over." Worcestershire County Council was unavailable for comment.
Telegraph
5 days ago
- Automotive
- Telegraph
Lib Dem-led council in row with motorists over double parking fines
A seaside town is the first in the country to trial doubling parking fines in a bid to tackle summer holiday traffic chaos. Incidents of rogue parking in Bournemouth include cars left on double yellow lines, pavements, verges, roundabouts and across private driveways. But visitors appear happy to take the financial hit of a £35 fine – only marginally more than car parking charges, which can cost £20 a day. Now, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council has been given permission by the Department for Transport to double their standard parking fine to match London rates, so the minimum fine will be £70, or £140 if not paid within two weeks. The move comes just weeks after the Lib Dem-led council about-turned on implementing residents' permits in the area, following a 'tsunami' of objections over the £70 cost to residents. The trial scheme will operate throughout August, which is the seaside resort's busiest time of the year. Already over 4,000 penalty notices have been issued over three 'heatwave' weekends this year. Tom Hayes, Labour MP for Bournemouth East, said: 'The parking fine fee has been capped for 20 years and it's frustrating for everyone. 'The hope is by having such a significant increase in parking fines it can really have a deterrent effect.' At the same time, the local authority will be required to provide enough legal parking spaces to cater for visitors. Residents have previously criticised BCP Council for it's 'war on motorists', after it sold a number of beach-front car parks, reduced the number of legal spaces available, and spent £3 million on cycle lanes that make access to driveways a 'nightmare'. The council insisted there are spaces available within a short walk of the seafront which have been left unused. The trial has prompted a mixed response as some residents insist the council is still not on their side. 'We will all be stung' Jim James, a resident, said: 'Finally, about time. Let's see their faces when they realise it's not a measly £30 any longer.' Another commenter posted: 'As much as locals think this is brilliant, it isn't. We will all be stung as a result. It is all about BCP making money. 'We should be welcoming visitors during the peak season and accommodating them sufficiently. 'There is not enough adequate parking as car parks are being auctioned off to the highest bidder. There are not any sufficient park and ride schemes. Local businesses will suffer as a result.' The local authority welcomed the trial as they said they had been calling for greater powers to tackle illegal parking for six years. Cllr Millie Earl, the leader of BCP Council, said: 'We welcome the fact the Government has recognised the problem we experience in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole with illegal and irresponsible parking. 'We have been asking Governments for more than six years to let us impose higher fines and our parking team now await final details on the work required to implement the trial in time for the August 1 deadline. 'Even at our busiest last weekend, there were enough parking spaces within a short walk of the seafront across our three towns and when visitors make a choice to park illegally, we know that residents, and responsible visitors, want us to take robust enforcement action. 'We want to encourage and support visitors to our wonderful area but just ask them to consider the safety of others when parking; and a level of fines that reflects the true costs of patrolling and enforcing will help us to do this.'
BBC News
10-07-2025
- Automotive
- BBC News
Witham road closures cause traffic 'chaos', residents say
Work to replace gas pipes, which has led to multiple road closures in a town, has unleashed "chaos" on the high street according to local Monday, Cadent Gas closed two adjacent routes into Witham town centre in Essex, causing congestion to build up on the nearby A12 towards Witham resident Andy Newhall, 61, described the scene as "organised chaos" and others said their journeys though the town had taken six times as said it was "very conscious" of the disruption and hoped people understood it was "necessary and essential work". 'Nightmare' Matthew Hooper, 52, is the director of Glovers Motors, which sits between the two closed junctions. His commute went up by 25 minutes on the first said there were "two no-shows" one morning, due to the traffic."Trying to get in and out of our junction is a little bit of a nightmare, especially road testing customers' cars," he said."Yesterday afternoon, it was just tooting and screaming and shouting outside, there was a lot of frustration from the motorists." Julia Sherlock, 60, is a three-minute drive from her place of work, but it took her 20 minutes on Sherlock, from Prime Appointments on the high street, says people are completely avoiding coming to Witham as a result of the traffic."No one's going to bother coming into town to do any shopping because it's impossible," she described the build-up of traffic as causing "mayhem" on the A12 earlier in the of Arnie's of Essex dog groomers, Hannah James, 35, said she got in earlier than the queues, but her customers had missed out on appointments."Some of them... when they've got a 10-minute journey, it's taken them 45 minutes," she said."It is affecting our business."Conservative Essex County Councillor for the Witham Northern division, Ross Playle, said he was concerned that two more adjacent roads, Guilthavon Valley and Mill Lane, were also due for closure in a week's time."That road closure cannot go ahead... there cannot be any overlap," he told the BBC. Essex Highways said companies seeking permits [for road closures] have to meet certain criteria, but traffic management is up to inspectors regularly visit to ensure the works are "compliant and safe with as little disruption as possible", the authority Gas said it was replacing a number of gas pipes in the area, that were "perfectly safe", but "coming to the end of their working life."It added that the pipes were installed "around 100 years ago" when there was less traffic, and it needed to ensure engineers had a safe working area."We are very conscious of the disruption roadworks cause and hope people understand this is necessary and essential work, to ensure everyone's safety and maintain a reliable gas supply for your central heating systems," a spokesperson said. Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Daily Mail
04-07-2025
- Daily Mail
Dramatic scenes as teens in an allegedly stolen Volkwagen lead police on wild chase in peak hour traffic
Two teens have been arrested following a chaotic police pursuit which brought peak-hour traffic to a standstill during a busy night in Sydney 's west. The dramatic chase through several suburbs unfolded shortly before 5.30pm on Friday when police attempted to pull over an allegedly stolen Volkswagen Tiguan. Dramatic video shared online showed the Volkswagen speeding along a residential median strip in an alleged attempt to evade five police vehicles. Two police cars are seen in pursuit moments later. Three more cop cars follow closely behind, driving alongside bumper-to-bumper traffic banked up. The pursuit continued through Toongabbie, Blacktown, Kings Park and Doonside, where the occupants abandoned the vehicle in Doonside Crescent. A girl, 14 and boy, 17, were arrested a short time later and taken to Blacktown Police Station, where inquiries are ongoing. No charges have yet been laid. It has been a busy night for police in western Sydney after a young female officer was found unresponsive, lying on a road in nearby Bidwill after she was allegedly assaulted while on duty Police responded to reports of an on-duty police officer lying unresponsive on Bunya Road just after 6.30pm. It's understood she and another young female officer were responding to a mental health incident at the time. The young Mount Druitt officer, 23 was treated at the scene and taken to Westmead Hospital in a stable condition. Her colleague, 22 was also treated by paramedics and taken to Mount Druitt Hospital as a precaution. A man, 19, was arrested at the scene and was taken to Nepean Hospital, where's under police guard. A crime scene has been established and an investigation into the circumstances of the incident has commenced.
ABC News
26-06-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Businesses cry for help as closure of Parkes Way expected to cause more traffic chaos
The temporary closure of a main arterial road is expected to cause traffic chaos in the Canberra CBD, leaving local businesses increasingly frustrated. Parkes Way will be closed in both directions between Coranderrk Street and the Glenloch Interchange from 8pm Friday, June 27, to 5am Monday, June 30, while the foundations are laid for a light rail bridge. The road is a main arterial that runs East-West along the northern edge of Lake Burley Griffin, and is a main feeder of traffic to the city, with turn-offs for traffic to access Canberra's north and south. Canberra Business Chamber CEO Greg Harford said the closure would have a big disruptive impact on businesses. "That's coming on top of significant disruption around the construction of light rail in the city centre itself," he said. "There is real concern about the ongoing nature of the disruptions we are seeing. "It's not good for business when customers find it hard to get around. Mr Harford acknowledged that much of the work was the unavoidable growing pains of a city with an increasing population, but he said the situation could be handled better. "Obviously, there's going to be some disruption when you're making major changes to the road and infrastructure," he said. "What could be done better is we could be phasing it differently and having parts of the road closed for shorter periods of time." He said some businesses were becoming increasingly unviable because customers were struggling to access the store. "The city centre will remain open and we're keen to see Canberrans come out and support local businesses." Infrastructure Canberra's acting deputy project director of light rail, Anthony Haraldson, said there would be diversions in place to avoid traffic confusion. Closures on a second weekend — July 4 to 7 — could be required to complete the work if it is not finished in time. Mr Haraldson said the light rail construction would continue to intermittently affect traffic. However, he said such closures would be similar to that on Parkes Way — conducted after hours on weekends to limit the impact on motorists.
