Chesterfield's roads blasted as 'carnage' as roadworks cause delays and tailbacks across the town

Derbyshire County Council has responded to criticism that a number of roads are being worked on at once – after over a year of lockdown - causing huge delays to motorists.

Roadworks are taking place across the town including around Hasland Road, Westmoor Road, the Brimington Estate, Chesterfield Road, Hady Hill, Duke Street, A619 Hollingwood from Brimington to Staveley, Ringwood Road, Cantrell Close and Devonshire Street.

Derbyshire Times reader Josh Breeze said: “It’s carnage in and around Chesterfield at the moment. There are works, and temporary traffic lights on almost every major route. These workmen need to talk to one another.”

Lee Anthony Cooper added: “ I am a delivery driver round Chesterfield and it’S a joke to get about. You have road works at the bottom of Hady Hill top of Hady. On the main road through Hasland. White City at Brimington and on the main road through Brimington and Hollingwood. Its bad enough at rush hour but with the road works on top, it’s a joke.”

Helen Warner said: “Absolute nightmare this morning. Total gridlock. Why any of these repairs couldn't have been done during lockdown is anyone's guess.”

Gail Caudwell added: “It’s ridiculous my daughter missed her train and we had set off ten minutes earlier than we normally would have. No organisation to anything. Gridlocked everywhere.”

Russell Davies said: “Needs proper co-ordination. Shouldn’t be allowed to have multiple jobs going off at the same time within a two to three mile radius. Got held up in three sets of roadworks yesterday on one short journey!”

Tony Gascoyne added: “Is there a reason why an application for works is not submitted and all the companies use this to do their work, so a road is only dug up once? Example, Chesterfield Road, Staveley - resurfaced, dug up for one service, repaired, then dug up for another service.”

Steven Webb said: “You have just laid new tarmac outside Ringwood park to put gas pipes down. Not even down six months before you started digging it up again. Surely common sense would say put gas pipe down first then new tarmac.”

But council officials said they ‘didn’t feel there was a higher level of work taking place in and around Chesterfield at the moment” and work had been planned closely.

Cars at a stand-still due to temporary traffic lights at Hady Hill also caused appointments at Chesterfield Royal to be delayed with the hospital issuing a statement to reassure patients that they would still be seen by clinics even if late, while business owners and residents in Hasland described the situation as “horrendous” and “mayhem” at peak times.

Questions have been asked as to why road maintenance was not started months ago, as despite the Covid-19 pandemic highways improvements were still classified as ‘essential’.

A Derbyshire County Council spokesperson said: “We do realise that roadworks can have an impact on those living and working in the area.

"We co-ordinate work between all the utility companies to avoid conflict and unnecessary disruption.

"But all the utility companies at times need to work on their pipes, cables and drains below the road surface.

“We don’t feel that there is a higher level of work taking place in and around Chesterfield at the moment, most of the roadworks on your list are by Cadent as they need access to their gas mains to repair them, or reinforce them.”

In a statement, a Cadent spokesperson added: “Cadent are critical workers and we have worked tirelessly during the COVID – 19 pandemic to deliver as much of our essential works during the national lockdown as possible.

“This work has been planned closely with the local authority and the temporary traffic arrangements are necessary to ensure the safety of our teams and motorists as they navigate around our work area.

“We know this work is causing disruption, but we hope that people understand this is essential work to upgrade your gas mains and keep energy flowing safely and reliably."

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Josh Breeze

It’s carnage in and around Chesterfield at the moment. There are works, and temporary traffic lights on almost every major route. These workmen need to talk to one another.