Roadworks bring misery

THERE were more than a few people late for work on Monday as a result of roadworks on the Banbridge Road.

Due to work being carried out on the Lurgan end of the road by firmus, queues of traffic trying to get into the town were stretching back almost as far as Waringstown.

Firmus are laying a gas main and the work is due to take them until February 12.

One motorist, who was stuck in traffic for 30 minutes on Monday morning, said he encountered the tailback just before he’d reached Bowen’s Lane.

He told the ‘MAIL’: “I knew there were roadworks and there’s usually a bit of a wait, but sitting in a queue for nearly half an hour is ridiculous.

“I was coming in from Waringstown to get to Lurgan town centre. I’ll not be going that way again while the roadworks are still there.

"What was even more galling was the fact hardly any traffic was coming from the other direction. I think they've got the phasing of the lights all wrong. When I did get near the lights they were green long enough for four of five cars to get through and then they changed to red again.

"Surely in the morning rush hour traffic coming into the town should get priority."

Things weren’t much better on Wednesday morning with another driver contacting us to say he had also faced a half hour delay coming into town.

Firmus said the reason for the tailbacks is because of the section of road they are working on and its close proximity to the mini roundabout at Flush Place.

A representative from the gas company explained there is someone manually controlling the traffic signals at peak times to try and minimise waits.

“Firmus apologises for any disruption caused,” said the spokesperson.

“We are working hard to bring the environmental and financial benefits of natural gas to Lurgan.”

She said they hoped to tarmac the section of the Banbridge Road they had been working on early this week and move on to a new part of the road. She said the project was on schedule to finish on time.