Home   News   Article

Traffic gridlock because of broken cover on A120 west of Bishop’s Stortford




Emergency temporary two-way traffic lights which caused severe traffic delays on the A120 to the west of Bishop’s Stortford have been removed.

The lights were erected just past the Tesco roundabout at Bishop’s Park on the approach to the Little Hadham bypass late Wednesday afternoon as a safety precaution due to a broken manhole cover belonging to Openreach.

According to the Causeway One Network live road works map, the telecoms company is carrying out repair and maintenance works from 9.20am on Thursday until midnight on Monday (December 16).

A spokesperson for highways authority Hertfordshire County Council said: “We’re in correspondence with the relevant contractors to try and get the works completed as quickly as possible and reduce disruption for residents.”

An Openreach spokesperson told the Indie at lunchtime on Thursday: “Our build partner, MTS, is repairing a carriageway box on the A120 which has become dangerous; traffic management has been put in place so the engineers can do the work safely.

“We expect the work to be complete on or before Monday 16 December and advise drivers to plan ahead and leave some extra time for their journey – and thank them for their understanding.”

By 4.30pm several motorists reported that the lights, cones and signs had been removed.

The impact on motorists was first felt during the Wednesday evening rush hour and continued into Thursday morning.

Mick Sims posted on Facebook at 9.15am that he had been queuing to exit the Stortford Fields estate for more than an hour, while Angie Gray said that it had taken her an hour and 20 minutes to get her daughter to school.

Yesterday (Wednesday) at 5pm, Herts Highways posted that there were long delays on the A1250 Hadham Road heading out of Stortford towards Little Hadham because traffic was “busier than usual”. At 7pm it said that the queues had cleared.

Supermarket delivery driver Donna Pope said: “The roadworks made me an hour and a half late for my last two customers. It took me that long to get from Cricketfield Lane to St Michael’s Mead.”

One woman told the Indie that it had taken her 45 minutes to get from Grange Paddocks to Stortford Fields, while Indie reporter Hollie Ryder, who lives near Clavering, said it took her 40 minutes to get from Cricketfield Lane to the old A120 Bury Green turning. “[Traffic on] the new bypass was stationary and just a queue of headlights,” said Hollie. “There were temporary lights with no work. Chaos!”

Driving instructor Sue Loader commented this morning: “I do driving lessons in Stortford. It's usually tough but yesterday I almost lost the plot!

On Thursday morning, Herts Highways posted on their Facebook page at 7.45am that the road between Hadham Park roundabout and the A1184 Bishop’s Park Way was partially blocked in both directions due to an “obstruction” on the road and warned motorists to avoid the area.

In response, Simon Gallagher said: “It’s not an ‘obstruction’! I reported this to your street works team yesterday who said they would get someone out to sort it.

“Someone has put out two-way traffic lights causing this gridlock. They do not have a valid street works permit, as confirmed by you yesterday. What have you done since this was reported to you at 4pm yesterday?

“No one is working there at all, they do not have a permit and this is causing massive issues, and you have known about it since yesterday.”



This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies - Learn More