ROADWORKS and the resultant traffic problems are hitting trade in the town, a business owner has said.

Steve Law runs Swindon Mobility, which has been at Rodbourne Road for nine years, and said work at Bruce Street Bridges has kept people away from his store.

Cabinet member for transport Dale Heenan said a water leak and changes to the road system had caused heavier traffic than expected and things should improve.

He said Swindon Borough Council had coordinated the work to minimise delays.

But Steve said he had never seen disruption like this before, with cars and buses both facing delays.

“How do you get near us? Everyone’s keeping away because of the traffic,” he said.

“What would you do? You don’t go somewhere when you know there’s going to be bad traffic, do you? At certain times it’s gridlock.”

He said he, as well as other traders in the area, were not aware of what work was being carried out.

“We don’t know what they (workers) are doing,” he added.

“The work seems to have isolated this side of one big roundabout when they’re not really doing anything on this side at all.”

He said the work would add pressure to businesses in the area in the run up to Christmas.

Coun Heenan (Con, Covingham & Dorcan) said: “The last week has been very challenging, and the biggest problem has been Bruce Street Bridges because of the sheer volume of vehicles. Thank you to everyone for bearing with these works, and we fully understand patience is being stretched.

“The council has been warning for months that there was going to be disruption through the media, public meetings, leaflet drops and emails to businesses.

“If Bruce Street Bridges can be avoided, please take a different route while the work happens.

“The bridge at Swindon Road Greenbridge is being closed by Network Rail for six months for electrification and out of the council’s hands, but delaying other work like Bruce Street Bridges would mean Swindon faces at least two years of ongoing disruption, rather than a couple of months.

“The resurfacing work on Drakes Way finishes on Wednesday, and Persimmon have been told to delay the Marlborough Road work until after Network Rail is completed to avoid any other problems. There will also be a ban on all roadworks within the town centre during the Christmas period.”

Paul Jenkins, managing director of Thamesdown Transport, said: “The current roadworks around Swindon are proving challenging to the buses as well as to other road users.

“We have seen delays to many of our services, and expect these to continue as more works start.

“However, we are looking forward to the lasting improvement these works should make to moving around Swindon in the future.

“We monitor the impact of the works on our services throughout the day and we deploy spare buses and drivers in order to minimise any disruption to passengers.

“We have also been working closely with the council’s highways department to understand the scheduling of the works.

“However, the works are beyond our control and we would like to apologise to passengers for any inconvenience caused.”

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