SWINDON Council has called a halt to roadworks in the next few weeks to make travelling around the town smoother during the festive period.

On Friday, Swindon Council imposed an embargo on 51 roads across the town to prevent any planned highways or utilities work from being carried out until January 5.

The embargo will cover all the main arterial routes in Swindon and, in particular, major routes in the town centre, and has been introduced to help drivers in the run-up to the Christmas and New Year period.

Councillor Dale Heenan, the council’s cabinet member for highways, strategic planning, sustainability and transport, said: “I am pleased we have been able to introduce a Christmas ban on roadworks across the town because everyone wants to see traffic moving during the busiest period of the year.

“The last couple of months have been very challenging with major road, drainage, anti-flood schemes and electricity supply improvements being completed by the utility companies and the council.

“A town centre roadworks ban is something that happens every year, but this year a ban on 51 roads, covering all of the major routes in and around the town, will be implecmented. The Council has been working closely with utility companies to ensure work is completed on time to ensure this becomes a reality, and I would like to thank them for their help on this matter.

“Motorists in Swindon have been incredibly patient over the last couple of months and I hope this festive ban means everyone can move around to do their shopping, see their families and make the most of the Christmas period.”

But while many planned roadworks will be stalled over the period, traffic management controls around the improvement to Bruce Street Bridges and the replacement of the Swindon Road railway bridge will continue to be in place due to the nature of the works, but the actual works themselves will be suspended.

Meanwhile Northern Road and Surrey Road, which have been closed for essential flood alleviation work, are expected to be reopened to traffic from next Friday.

Scottish and Southern Energy have also completed their major replacement cable works on Cricklade Road in time for the Christmas embargo and will return in the New Year to complete the remainder of their programme.

If any emergency or urgent works need to be carried out on the roads included in the embargo, the council will work with utility companies to keep any disruption to a minimum.

The Christmas roadworks embargo is the latest measure introduced by the council to aid the flow of traffic in the borough. It comes after the Polaris Way bus gate at North Star was opened to outbound traffic last month.

The council also rescheduled 19 resurfacing schemes around the town while the major highways works are being undertaken.