Drivers have reported delays this morning in Bury St Edmunds after roadworks – which are planned to last for 16 weeks – began in the town.
Tayfen Road will be closed for the first four weeks of the work and temporary traffic lights will be in place during this time.
The first phase of the work will involve installing a toucan crossing at the junction with the roundabout and Tayfen Road.
The shared footpath/cycle path will be widened and reconstructed and, while the road closure is in place, part of Tayfen Road will be resurfaced.
Plans to remove the Tayfen Road roundabout and replace it with traffic lights have been shelved by Suffolk County Council after councillors made calls to stop the scheme.
David Nettleton, independent councillor for Suffolk County Council, St Edmundsbury Borough Council and Bury Town Council, wrote to the county council asking for nine questions to be answered.
He branded the changes “a disaster” and a “crackpot scheme”.
Councillor Jane Storey, interim cabinet member for highways and transport, said: “While our preferred option is to signalise the Tayfen Road/Ipswich Street/Station Hill junction, and therefore remove the roundabout for the benefits of all users, I can confirm that this part of the plan will now not go ahead at this time.
“Further discussions over the Bury St Edmunds Masterplan have shown some significant changes, which could change traffic flows, as well as demand, on Tayfen Road and the associated junctions.
“It therefore seems to be prudent at this point to pause the proposal for the removal of the Tayfen Road roundabout and review it again once the new traffic flows and demands for the area are fully understood.”
Phase two of the work – at Out Northgate – will begin on Monday, February 26, and the shared footpath and cycle path will be widened and reconstructed along the Tayfen Road side of Out Northgate.
For the duration of the second phase, the lane in the direction away from the roundabout will be closed along with the outer lane of the roundabout remaining closed.
Parking along Out Northgate will be suspended for the duration of phase 2.
Work at Compiegne Way – phase three of the project – will start on Monday, April 9, and will last for five weeks.
Compiegne Way will be widened, which will enable the extension of the two-lane approach to the Northgate roundabout, and the new road layout will result in two in-bound lanes and one out-bound lane.
A contra-flow system will be in operation to control traffic flow along Compiegne Way, this will be in place for the duration of the last phase.
On completion of phase three, the outer lane closure will be removed.
SCC says the improvements will increase vehicle capacity, efficient traffic movements around the roundabout and improved pedestrian and cyclist facilities.
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