Derbyshire County Council promises easy Easter weekend for town hit by roadworks chaos

Travel around the town has slowed to a crawl as a result of a four-month project to replace water pipes along Bakewell Road, exacerbated by an unexpected leak which required sudden road closures.

Motorist Jackie Hadley-Ludlam said: “I have to commute to Darley Dale through Matlock six days a week and it is dreadful. A constant minefield of lights and road closures which make everyone's lives a misery. Little or no information and every day brings a new level of commuting nightmares.

Sharon Flint shared a similar experience, saying: “Between Matlck Bath and Darley, counting all the ones in and around just Matlock there were 11 sets of lights and that doesn’t count roads which were closed like Hackney with no lights. Bank Holiday, kids are off for two weeks on school holidays and it’s gridlock.”

On Thursday, April 6, Derbyshire Dales MP Sarah Dines said she was seeking an urgent response from the council and, one way or another, action has followed.

A spokesperson for the authority said: “We fully realise the impact of work taking place mainly by Severn Trent in Matlock at the moment and are working with them to minimise disruption.

“Several essential planned jobs were already underway when two emergencies occurred – a water leak closed Lime Tree Road, and Severn Trent had to put traffic lights on the A6 in Matlock outside the Arc Leisure Centre and in Matlock Bath to carry out emergency pumping work. Severn Trent were able to reopen Lime Tree Road yesterday.”

They added: “We have checked with Severn Trent this morning and they have told us that Old Hackney Lane will reopen by the end of today, April 6, and the work on the A6 in Darley Dale will be taken off for the weekend.

“In addition they say that the work at Matlock Bath and by the Arc in Matlock will finish for the weekend so those sets of traffic lights will be taken off by the end of the day. This work will resume next week.”

“Gigaclear are installing fibre broadband and have traffic lights on the A615 at Matlock Green, we delayed this work by a few days because of the Lime Tree Road water leak. Gigaclear have confirmed that these lights will be taken off for the bank holiday weekend.

“As the highways authority we coordinate all road works. But utility companies have a legal duty to carry out work on their equipment, which provide essential services for everyone. We know that many people have been affected by traffic jams recently and would like to offer our apologies for the inconvenience this has caused.”

According to Ms Dines, Severn Trent say ground movement caused the leak to develop in one of its pipes last week.

She said: “The water company has installed a temporary overground pipe to remove the need for tankers to travel through Matlock and recognise that over the Bank Holiday weekend the road will need to be reopened to reduce potential congestion in Matlock and Darley Dale. I am pleased that the county council says these works should be completed by tomorrow.”

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