Fears two-month road closure will ‘gridlock’ town

Motorists fear a two-month road closure will cause “major problems” and “gridlock” a Suffolk town.

Candlet Road, in Felixstowe, will be closed from this Monday until 10 November while a new roundabout is constructed and improvements to the make-up of the road are made.

The roundabout will serve the new Bloor Homes housing development - currently a work in progress – between High Street and Candlet Road in the Walton area.

The news of the closure has been met with outrage from some residents, including Tom Strudwick, who believes restricting access will see the town come to a standstill.

The 30-year-old, who lives in Valley Walk, said: “Candlet Road is the main route in and out of Felixstowe.

“We already see massive gridlocks in Felixstowe when Candlet Road is busy, especially if there is an accident or there is just more traffic.

“All of the traffic that leaves the busiest roads in Felixstowe funnels down Candlet Road, so the road is already under severe pressure.

“Yet they are now building more houses at the end of the road. It just doesn’t seem like it was a very clever idea to begin with.”

Suffolk Highways will shut the route between the A14 at Trimley and Cowpasture Drive, off the northern side of Candlet Road, meaning drivers will have to find alternative routes.

Julia Bowen says the closure will no doubt see heavy congestion adding up to 15 minutes to her journeys.

The 59-year-old, who has lived in Felixstowe for 55 years, said: “I don’t think there is ever a good time to do this but there are schools on those other routes so this is going to cause problems with congestion, especially at school times.

“We’ve already had major disruption on Candlet Road when they put the original properties in but when they did that they managed to keep part of the road open.

“I don’t know why they are not able to do that this time. If you look at the plans the road infrastructure just isn’t there.”

Bosses at Suffolk County Council have now said they requested a reduced timeframe and agreed the dates for the work to avoid the summer holidays.

A spokesman added: “We will continue to work with Bloor Homes whilst the road closure is in place and co-ordinate other essential road works around the area to keep disruption limited as much as possible.”

Bloor Homes has said the roundabout formed part of the outline planning permission obligations for Bloor Homes’ new development.

It has been approved by Suffolk County Council’s Highways department, Highways England and Highway Assurance, in line with their design criteria.

A spokesperson from Bloor Homes said: “While the planned road closure and diversion will go ahead during this time-frame, there will be an emergency access route which will be available at all times, should the Dock Spur Road be closed, upon the request of the Highway Authority. We are seeking to complete the roadworks with as little disruption as possible in order to reopen the road as soon as we are able to”

Bloor Homes has confirmed the diversion route will direct traffic to via A14, Port of Felixstowe Road, Walton Avenue, Beach Station Road, Langer Road, Garrison Lane, Candlet Road, and vice versa.

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