DRIVERS are facing a month of one-hour detours during a road closure that has been described as “chaotic”.
The A4103 will be closed in Leigh Sinton for one month over the summer, while a private contractor carries out engineering works.
Worcestershire County Council has published an official diversion route, which will take motorists on a 35-mile detour via Cradley, Bromyard, Broadwas and Rushwick.
The closure is scheduled to begin on July 20 and be lifted on August 21.
Parish councillors now fear the significant impact the closure will have on the area, including on unofficial diversion routes.
READ MORE: Motorists warned ahead of month-long Leigh Sinton closure
Hour-long diversion
“It’s going to be awful because the detour is so huge, it’s going to add an hour onto people’s journeys,” said Dave Fereday, chair of Leigh and Bransford Parish Council.
“We feel it’s going to be absolutely chaotic.
“The official diversion will be onto A-roads but people being people, they will look at the hour-long diversion and will go a different route.”
There are further concerns that the thousands of commuters who use the road to travel between Worcester and Hereford may not be aware of the lengthy closure.
“We don’t think it’s being properly advertised,” Cllr Fereday said.
“It’s not just this area. People who use this road don’t necessarily live in Leigh Sinton. It is a very well-used route.
“It’s being treated like normal roadworks but it is a lot more than that.”
He said the council had recently been informed that a licence had been granted for the contractors to work seven days a week, meaning there are hopes that the closure could be lifted earlier.
READ MORE: Locals react as A449 Malvern closure extended into summer
‘Something has gone wrong’
West Worcestershire MP Dame Harriett Baldwin has hit out at Worcestershire County Council, saying “something has clearly gone wrong” with road closures in the area.
“When the A449 was closed, I was appalled at how little planning and consultation the county highways team carried out and the lack of impact assessments or how the work could impact local business,” she said.
“This was compounded by the work now over-running adding to the blight on local business and local people.
“Now the same team want to ride roughshod over another community and close a major road. The parish council has complained of poor communication and poor consultation and this mirrors what we’ve seen in Malvern.
“Worcestershire County Council highways team used to have a great reputation but something has clearly gone wrong and the senior council leadership needs to have a serious look at this.”
Worcestershire County Council did not respond before we went to print.
