I SEE that the roadworks on the A590 at Lindal are not shown on the Traffic England website map.

The congestion/queues caused by them are shown – the road is currently coloured black for “not moving”, which about describes the effect the traffic lights and single lane working are having.

Secondly, why are these lights not being operated in a less disruptive manner?

It’s clear that they’ve just been “set up and left”, with little attention paid to optimising the settings to minimise delays.

I assume I’ll get the stock reply that there are set procedures, blah, blah, and things will be done differently in the future, blah, blah.

Each time this comes up, the same problems occur and the same response is given. No-one is given a penalty for the unnecessary delays caused and nothing ever changes.

In this case it’s planned works. When it’s emergency works by utilities, I usually get a “they have a statutory right” excuse – but never any response as to why they can cause chaos through the inappropriate operation of traffic controls and suffer no penalties.

To be clear, as long as all the contractors know they can more or less get away with anything and suffer no penalty, then there is no incentive for them to improve their working practices.

The A590 is a busy road, with no practical alternative routes for most traffic. The A5087 coast road is significantly longer, much slower due to its narrow and winding nature, and has height restrictions at both the Ulverston and Barrow ends. Other routes are worse. As I understand it, because of these factors, the A590 is classified such that, where practical, temporary traffic lights are not permitted during peak times.

While the nature of the works in Lindal at the moment means it is not practical to avoid full-time temporary traffic lights, this classification should be a red flag that any temporary traffic lights need careful set-up and operation. Yet this rarely happens.

Is it too much to ask that when works are approved, and temporary traffic lights (or other traffic controls) are to be involved, that contractors are briefed on these issues and they are required to take appropriate measures?

My complaint is absolutely not that the works are being carried out. I think just about all of us in the area would agree that they are necessary and will deal with a regular problem.

The complaint is that the necessary single lane working is not being managed in a manner which minimises, as far as is practical, the delays.

For those of us just having to get up earlier, it’s an inconvenience. For the many business users affected, it’s costing real money.

SIMON HOBSON

Maple Avenue,

Ulverston