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

[dutchman]

The outbound lane was open again last night. It appears as if they open and close lanes completely at random?

It was apparently due to this:

Traffic chaos on Coventry Ring Road after slip road shuts

Traffic on Coventry Ring Road almost ground to a halt for a day after a crucial slip-road was shut by the council. The off-ramp to Butts Road at Junction 7 was closed to cars on the evening of November 13 so roadworks could take place.

The council planned for it to shut for three months to allow contractors safe access to the site. But by the next day it had caused a traffic jam "most of the way around the ring road," a council chief said at a meeting this week.

By 5pm drivers faced 20-minute delays at the junction and the council was forced to re-open the road that evening.

Gerry Raleigh, programme manager for the council's Air Quality Action Plan Delivery, told a meeting on Wednesday (November 30) that shutting the road was "too impactful", adding: "When you make changes to traffic, you can get unexpected results."

Westwood councillor Abdul Jobbar told the meeting that he was late to work by an hour that day because of the traffic problems. Mr Raleigh later told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): "We had a traffic jam all the way around the ring road. Physically it went most of the way around the ring road.

"We closed everything before the morning," he said. "I drove around the diversion to check it was okay.

"I think it was a combination of things; the weight of traffic - when you have too much impact you get a lock-up. It was very, very slow.

"The real issue was at Junction 8, diverting onto Junction 8. [There was] no circulation."

[dutchman]

Disruptive Coventry roadworks to last for another eight months

Roadworks causing havoc for businesses and residents in Coventry will last for at least another eight months. Work at Spon End will continue until the summer of 2023 rather than ending in late spring as intended, officers told a council meeting on Wednesday (November 30).

They said the delay is partly because of problems with The Black Horse Pub which will be knocked down to make way for a new lane. Gerry Raleigh, the officer in charge of the council's air quality action plan, said: "The acquisition of the Black Horse was problematic and that has delayed the delivery of the scheme."

There have also been problems with water and gas mains meaning the scheme has had to be redesigned, he added.

Mr Raleigh admitted the works had been "disruptive" for people there, but added that some of the impact on businesses will ease this week. He said: "It has been disruptive, there's no question. It will be disruptive for people.

"It's fair to say it will be a huge relief for shops and businesses in that area when we can pull back the fencing this week."

Cllr Patricia Hetherton, Cabinet Member for City Services at the council, defended the Spon End scheme, saying: "I always go through Spon End, the junction at Spon End and Hearsall Lane was always a problem. We are going to try and have some movement in that area too.

"The whole environment will change there, I wish people could see that vision we have. It will be a much safer environment."

[dutchman]

"It's fair to say it will be a huge relief for shops and businesses in that area when we can pull back the fencing this week."

I'll believe it when I see it! They keep starting new works before they've finished the existing ones.

[dutchman]

HALF the fencing has been removed after complaints from shopkeepers, the other half remains.

[dutchman]

HALF the fencing has been removed after complaints from shopkeepers, the other half remains.

And that was pretty pointless since there's no pedestrian access from that end!

The chip shop was closed today but I don't believe it had anything to do with the roadworks.

This is for everyone whose bus was heading towards Spon End from town this afternoon:

[dutchman]

The post box outside the former post office has been sealed up, I suspect due to the roadworks, and it's a very long walk to the next nearest post box.

At first I thought it might be due to industrial action but all the others in the area are still open except the one that used to be outside the post office in Abercorn Road which has been completely removed.

[rebbonk]

Our local post box has simply been removed!

A couple of years ago it was relocated to a very poor position. Since then it has been hit by several vehicles and the good old PO has now decided to remove it and leave us to walk to the post office on the main road. - They can get stuffed, I'm not playing their silly games, and I'm no longer using Royal Mail. - Like many others on the same estate!

Good luck to them if they can treat their customers that way and still have a profitable business!

[dutchman]

Trade site 'almost a no-go area' due to roadworks



Coventry traders say weeks of roadworks are putting off customers and creating a devastating impact on their livelihoods.

Businesses at Arches Industrial Estate say footfall has plummeted since work started at Spon End in September.

"It's almost a no-go area," claimed Tony Dicey, who runs car body shop Paint Junky Garage with his brother.

Delays mean the roadworks are expected to last until summer 2023.

The project was needed to relieve pressure on Holyhead Road and avoid a Clean Air Zone being introduced, the city council said.

But some traders fear their businesses will not survive, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Mr Dicey, 42, said before the roadworks started, the four-year-old business had one of its best ever years.

But the impact of the roadworks was "instant", he added, and said business at the garage, which partly relied on walk-ins, fell by 44% in September.

Business is said to be down by about 15 to 20% each month since - money they usually used to pay their own wages, said Mr Dicey.

"There's usually a buzz about the place. It's like the school holidays now," he said.

With rising costs of supplies and energy bills, he said he feared he would not be able to stay open much longer.

"It's easy to blame roadworks [but] all I have got to compare it with is how it was before," he told LDRS.

David Bowes, 45, who has run Davey B's snack bar for eight years, said both walk-ins and deliveries had been hit.

Drivers cancelled because of the traffic and food sometimes got to customers cold, he said.

"One of my regulars says even though the food is great, is it really worth the hassle?"

Chris Randall, who runs music and functions premises Arches Venue, estimated it had lost about two-thirds of its business because of the roadworks.

He said customers were also struggling to find a way to the site due, he added, to a ban on right turns in and out of the estate.

It's been awful," he said. "Last weekend we had 20 people in the room. Normally, our bands play to at least a hundred."

The council said right turns out of the estate had been lost as a result of the work, but "all other manoeuvres" were "maintained".

The authority said it met with representatives from the estate to talk about its work to improve air quality and thanked people for their patience.

"This work is vital or we will be instructed by government to install a charge zone," a spokesperson said.

[dutchman]

The post box outside the former post office has been sealed up, I suspect due to the roadworks, and it's a very long walk to the next nearest post box.

It's now been moved to the corner of Spon End and Upper Spon Street which oddly enough is where it used to be when a post office was also on the corner!

Incidentally the chip shop will be closed for four days over Christmas and not reopen until Thursday.

[dutchman]

Incidentally the chip shop will be closed for four days over Christmas and not reopen until Thursday.

It wasn't open tonight either!

I know they've been having staffing problems recently, as also have most of the catering industry.