Roadworks cause havoc as Spon End businesses say it's killed their trade

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The former entry from the Butts Road to Upper Spon Street is now permanently blocked-off after it was fenced-off for a long time while roadworks were in progress.



I don't recall any prior notification or discussion about this closure?

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Spon End roadworks hurting business, Coventry traders say



Traders in Coventry claim passing trade is being "ruined" by long-running roadworks to cut congestion.

They began in Spon End in March 2022 and should have finished in April.

Fran Shone, landlady of the Old Dyers Arms, said she was losing thousands of pounds every month.

Coventry City Council said if it had not carried out the work it would have been forced to introduce a clean air zone, covering an area affecting 82,000 residents.

It promised better traffic flow as a result of the work but some traders said they feared their businesses would not survive the delays.

Ms Shone told BBC CWR the roadworks were costing her at least £700 every Friday through a loss in trade.

"There's people that used to go to the chippy, come over the road and sit outside the pub and have their chips while they have a pint. Its just none existent because there's no parking" she said.

Kevin Thompson, of Kev's Chop Shop barbers, said he too was badly affected.

"People used to pass by, pull up, come in for a hair cut and then go," he said.

Since losing parking spaces and with the barriers outside, he said people had stopped walking past.

"There's been no liaison at all - just a letter saying this is going to happen. The only way we found out things was to ask the actual workers.

"We can't plan anything. All we can do is open the door and wait."

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The council have painted double-yellow lines outside the shops too!

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The pavement outside the shops was flooded on Monday morning due to the drains being blocked. One homeowner was forced to use sandbags to protect her property...



Picture was taken in the evening after the water subsided.

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Spon End road widening scheme causing flooding - residents



Residents and business owners in Coventry have said recent road widening is causing them flooding issues.

New drains in the Spon End area block too easily and when it rains, water "cascades" on to the pavement and into their premises and homes, they complain.

Resident Judy Craig said her dog was "in water up to her knee caps" in her listed home after a bout of heavy rain last month.

She said the council was not interested in helping her and others.

She claimed: "They didn't plane the road so therefore we've got a concave road, higher up with poor drainage, kerb stones that never get cleaned, coming down a slope in tiny little gullies so the water's got nowhere to go."

She said the authority gave her a Floodline number to call and she was advised to buy sandbags which, she added, was just "sticking a plaster on something" and not addressing the issue.

"I live on my own and I'm a pensioner so where do I haul sandbags and sand? Why do I have to do all this?" she said.

Kevin, who runs barbers Kev's Chop Shop on the same road as Ms Craig's property, said his business flooded after the drains became clogged in recent bad weather.

"It blocked with all the leaves in the high winds just coming off the trees and it just cascaded over," he said.

"Of course with the ramp that we've now got at the roadside, [the water] just came over and went in all the shops."

He said he had had about an inch of water in his shop, with water "coming out from under my chair about two days later".

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They were digging the new road up again last night!