Road Works on the Strand.

One day in September I thought we had reached rock bottom with buses running late. We had just introduced the new 12A service and there were problems with road works in Newton and we simply did not have enough time to get round the route. Well the road works in Newton have gone and we have an extra 15 minutes which means we now don't have to risk our driving licenses just to get round the route.

But to day we had buses running up to and over an hour late. By the early evening so many buses had been turned short of their destinations that the controller was spending all his time recording the lost mileage in the book. And why was this?

It was due to the road works on the Strand. No, that's not true. It was due to the total lack of traffic management around the road works by the contractors carrying out the road works. No even that is not true. It was due to the fact that Torbay Highways Department did not force the contractors to set up proper traffic management around the road works. But then they never do. Why did I expect anything different with these road works. Probably because the Strand is the main road through Torquay and there are very few alternatives. Especially as the alternatives include Belgrave Rd and Sheden Hill. And there are road works blocking them as well.

It does not seem to occur to our Town Hall that if they leave it to the good will of the contractors to ensure that diversions are well thought out and sign posted and the temporary traffic lights have just a little planning put into their sighting and operation, then the contractors will not spend time and money doing this important work. Why should they? Their job is to repair the road and the less money it costs them the more money they will make.

And who suffers when no one gives a damn about the motorist sitting for 20 mins in a badly thought out and executed diversion round a badly thought out and executed set of road works. (O.K. I know the motorist is destroying the planet so why should anyone give a damn). Not the contractor. I have never heard of Torbay Council saying to a contractor," Well here is you £2 million for the road works but we have deducted £500 000 because your traffic management was crap." Maybe they should.

The council don't suffer. I have never heard anyone say, "I'm not voting for Councilor Smith again because the temporary lights kept falling over." Maybe they should. (Actually that should be, 'Maybe they should vote').

Not the Highways department. They are civil servants, they never suffer. Maybe they should.

In case you think I am a little over to top on this one, have a close look at the photo. It is just one example of how bad the planning was for these road works. You can see two sets of traffic lights, one on green and one on amber. It had taken me 25 mins and 200 yards to reach the green temporary lights so I could make my way through the road works. Then the pedestrian lights changed and we had to stop. By the time the pedestrian lights had changed the temporary lights had also changed and traffic was coming towards us from the other end of the road works. An other 4 min wait.

It could have been worse. Look closer. Traffic coming from the road works wasn't coming from the left of the Clock Tower but the right. Had the pedestrian lights changed when the traffic had been going the other way people would have crossed the road secure in the knowledge that they had a green man flashing but the drivers coming the other way would not have been able to see a red light. They were on the wrong side of the road for that. This foolish and potentially dangerous lack of care shown by the contractors shows that they know they can get away with the kind of traffic management a group of year six school children on a class project would be ashamed of.

This is just one example of the mess these road works have been today but it should be enoughht to convince Torbay Highways Dept that they should have a detailed look at all contractors plans particularly the bits about traffic management, before they let them dig up any more of our roads. Either that or they should be forced to spend all day driving through the road works with a small child sitting in the back of their car screaming. Very loudly.