Fed-up residents buy a cake for temporary traffic lights to mark year on street

21 May 2023 , 23:59

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Frustrated residents marked the first anniversary of the introduction of temporary traffic lights on a major road with a birthday cake

Frustrated residents marked the first anniversary of the introduction of temporary traffic lights on a major road with a birthday cake.

It has now been more than 15 months since temporary traffic lights were installed in Painswick, Gloucestershire, which has restricted the traffic flow on the A46 to a single lane.

In February this year, residents decided to mark the anniversary with a birthday cake.

Councillor Susan Williams, who represents the area, recently raised the issue at the latest corporate overview and scrutiny committee.

She spoke of how frustrating it has been for residents and how hard it has been to get information from the council on the structural issue affecting the road.

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Fed-up residents buy a cake for temporary traffic lights to mark year on street

The temporary traffic lights restricted the traffic flow on the A46 to a single lane (Google)

She said: "I was wondering if it would be possible to perhaps make a request that members of departments perhaps think about their communication to councillors a little bit better. I personally have had to fight to get information for an update on a structural issue on a bridge for over a year.

“I found that incredibly frustrating and I know that the residents in that particular area have been pulling their hair out and they even had a birthday cake on the side of the road to celebrate that we’ve still not heard anything. It’s really taken a lot of pushing, just for them to say, rather than the stock phrase of we’re working on it to say well actually this is the issue.

“It was something I could have taken back and allayed some of those concerns but to actually have no information whatsoever apart from ‘oh well, we’re working on it, we’ll let you know’, it wasn’t really good enough. I just ask if perhaps communication could be better. I know if I report potholes, it’s perfect. I can’t fault it, they come back straight away and the response for that is very quick. But when it’s a major road with a major issue, it would have been helpful.”

Deputy council leader Lynden Stowe said he was sure officers will have taken note of Cllr Williams’ comments and he would ask them to look into that specific case, reports GloucestershireLive.

Cllr Williams explained that after fighting very hard, the officer is going to speak to the parish council about it.

“But it has taken over a year,” she said.

Deputy chief executive Steve Mawson said the council is working to improve its systems.

He said: “If the normal system of contact fails, it nearly always gets escalated to a councillor. What we are trying to do is make that part work properly so the councillor doesn't need to get involved. For me, if a customer has to come and escalate something to you, we’ve failed in the first place to sort it out properly.”

Residents say progress with the issue still seems to be slow and the lights are still in place.

“There are now at least proposals, but I have seen no sign yet of the public consultation/exhibition of the proposals, which we were promised, so it's still unclear when we can expect the lights to be removed,” one resident said.