Hertfordshire County Council installs temporary traffic signals in Bishop’s Stortford town centre, adding to gridlock caused by Rye Street road works

Drivers again faced gridlock in Bishop’s Stortford this week, with some taking up to an hour to exit Jackson Square shopping centre’s car park because of road works which began on Monday (Nov 11) and are due to continue for three more weeks.

Temporary three-way traffic lights were set up and carriageways closed by highways authority Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) at the junction of The Causeway and Adderley Road for “refurbishment” of the permanent signals.

The council confirmed on Tuesday (Nov 12) that the works included installing signage associated with ANPR (automatic number plate recognition) camera enforcement to monitor the box junction there.

In March 2023, the Indie reported that motorists who occupy the box junction will be fined after HCC decided to move forward with plans to “ease congestion and improve safety”.

The authority was to apply for legal powers for cameras to monitor motorists turning left or right out of Adderley Road into The Causeway for “moving traffic offences”.

It is the first location in Hertfordshire to be the subject of “unattended camera enforcement” under the powers.

The works mean the eastbound dual carriageway of The Causeway towards the Dane Street roundabout is down to one lane, causing tailbacks all the way back to Link Road and Northgate End.

The westbound dual carriageway to the Jackson Square car park entrance is also down to one lane, causing tailbacks to Hockerill crossroads.

And traffic backed up along Adderley Road and Riverside, causing a backlog in the Jackson Square car park. The multi-storey became blocked on Monday morning, with some motorists taking up to an hour to get out and a queue forming to get in.

The jams led to former town mayor Keith Barnes missing the 11am Armistice Day service in Castle Gardens. Mr Barnes branded the chaos caused by the works a “total fiasco”.

There was more misery for drivers as a result of electricity cabling work in Rye Street at the junction with Grange Paddocks and Lindsey Road, with temporary five-way signals there causing long delays.

On Monday evening all routes into and out of town were extra busy, with some completely gridlocked. Queues of vehicles were backed up all the way from Grange Paddocks to Michaels Road and to the B1383 Stansted Road, which was also slow due to drivers bypassing Rye Street.

Liane Kemp posted on Facebook that it took her 45 minutes to get home instead of the usual five minutes, adding “Stortford has become a joke”.

One woman said she now “boycotts” Waitrose in Northgate End, claiming it is “easier to nip to Cambridge or Bluewater”.

The works in Rye Street are due to finish on Wednesday (Nov 13) but more electricity cabling work is due to start further up Rye Street, near Meadowlands, on Thursday (Nov 14).

The Indie has asked the county council whether the second set of works in Rye Street could be postponed because of the disruption caused by simultaneous works on key routes in the town and is awaiting a reply.