New figures have revealed that 3,000 working hours were lost due to weather conditions on the beleaguered Posthouse roundabout.
Under a Freedom of Information request by our sister paper, the Daily Post, work at the site has also sparked 175 complaints and four traffic light failures.
The twice-delayed roadworks have caused months of misery for weary motorists.
The £6million project to improve the notorious A483/A55 junction was due to be finished by today, Monday, June 29.
Data released by Highways England revealed the 3,000 lost hours equate to a total of 30 shifts – 24 of which were lost due to heavy rain and six because of high winds.
The main contractor carrying out the work was Balfour Beatty Mott MacDonald (BBMM) while the sub-contractors were Crown Highways, Tarmac, Aggregate Industries, Balfour Beatty and Roocroft.
The Freedom of Information response stated: “We have received 120 complaints through Highways England’s Customer Contact Centre.
“We have also received 55 complaints either directly at this office or at the office of our service provider, Balfour Beatty Mott MacDonald (BBMM).
“The main areas of concern have been congestion and delays, followed by time taken to complete the scheme, noise and signage.”
The request uncovered four occasions where temporary traffic lights at the roundabout broke and needed fixing, which was ‘covered within the tendered price for the works being carried out’.
In February this year we reported how repair works to the temporary signals were delayed because the engineer was stuck in the traffic jams that had formed at the roundabout.
The projected total cost of the scheme is £5,974,687.97 – although the final accounts have yet to be submitted and is likely to be a different figure.
Cost
A breakdown provided in the response showed more than £2million was spent on ‘preliminaries’ which includes welfare and traffic management.
The cost of work to pavements, kerbs, footways and paved areas was more than £1million, electrical works for road lighting and traffic signs was £466,999, and structural concrete £303,157.
Highways England insists traffic will flow through the junction quicker when the roadworks are completed and all new and existing lanes fully open on Monday.
North West Asset delivery manager, Andy Withington, said: “We apologise for the delay and disruption in completing this complicated improvement and for the inconvenience these delays have caused to road users on both sides of the border.
“We have pulled out all the stops to make sure that the project is completed by Sunday, June 28, and are still on course to open the road by then.”
