SPEEDING motorists are using country lanes as rat runs to avoid gridlock following the closure of a three-mile section of the A51.
HGVs have also ignored diversions between Tarporley roundabout and Tarvin and are heading on to small country lanes to avoid long queues at traffic lights.
Cheshire County Council highways officers are reacting to roadwork complaints by:
Altering traffic light sequences,
Erecting more signs to stop HGV drivers using back lanes,
Working with police to enforce speed limits and HGV road bans.
However, residents say speeding rush- hour motorists are cutting through narrow lanes to beat the congestion.
Duddon resident Mark Wilson told The Chronicle: “Vehicles of all sizes are ignoring detour signs and trying to negotiate their journey using the back lanes of Duddon, Willington and Utkinton.”
Tricia Thompson, of Woodlan Court, Utkinton, said the traffic volume since roadworks started last week was “horrendous”.
She said: “When the farmer has closed the road for milking, there has sometimes been 18 or 20 vehicles waiting.”
Richard Johnson, of Woodlane Farm, near Utkinton, added: “The first week of the closure I thought it was going to be a real problem. I contacted highways and this seems to have made a difference.”
A Cheshire County Council spokesman said: “There is a temporary 7.5 tonne weight limit on these routes, but it does need enforcing.
“This is the responsibility of the police, and they have been contacted and will be on site stopping these HGVs and talking to the drivers.
“We are putting additional signs on these roads to make drivers aware that they are to stick to the diversion.”
Businesses along the A51 are suffering a sharp slump in trade with Okells Nurseries, who get 50,000 customers a week, reporting the roadworks has knocked a third off customer footfall.
Owner Tim Okell said: “We need to get the message out, we are very much open for business as usual, our approach from the A51 Chester is still open.”
