Drivers incensed as gas pipe repairs set to last until December (From Thisisdorset)

Drivers incensed as gas pipe repairs set to last until December

12:00pm Monday 17th September 2012 in Latest By Diana Henderson

Drivers incensed as gas pipe repairs set to last until December

The resumption of roadworks to lay a new gas main in a Poole road has incensed residents as queues of traffic built up around three-way lights.

Work stopped over the summer holidays but has been progressing along Sandbanks Road for most of the year and is now set to last until early December.

“It’s a nightmare,” said Christine Brown, 52, of Lower Parkstone, who was walking dogs at Whitecliff Recreation Ground but needs to use Sandbanks Road to get to work for the National Trust at Studland and Brownsea Island .

“On Thursday it took me two hours to get to work. There is no other road. And this morning no-one was working there,” she said.

There are three-way lights at the junction with Whitecliff Road and residents said when work began this week, the traffic congestion stretched back to Britannia Road and up to Lilliput Road at 8am.

Andy Creedy, who lives in Sandbanks Road, said: “This will happen every morning and evening. It will only get worse as the roadworks are ongoing and will move nearer and nearer to the Civic Centre over the next 14 weeks.

“There will be chaos when they reach the Pottery Road junction and even more when they have to pass under the railway bridge,” he said. Robert Hill, 61, of Whitecliff, said: “I couldn’t believe it when they started it again.”

He said he had been driving round to Ashley Cross to try and avoid the congested road, adding: “It’s a nightmare for pedestrians trying to cross the road.”

Paul Cartwright, 57, from Whitecliff, said: “It’s ridiculous.

“Every time you come out of the house you get stuck and can’t get across the road.

“They are digging the same road up again.”

However one couple from Wedgewood Drive had a different point of view.

“The work has to be done. We don’t want gas leaks.”

Southern Gas Networks is replacing the gas mains with modern plastic pipe and will be working on Sandbanks Road between Whitecliff Road and Tennyson Road for around 12 weeks.

Work will be suspended for two-weeks over the half-term holiday.

Spokesman Hannah Brett said: “We would like to apologise for any inconvenience that may be caused by our work.

“We understand that people can get frustrated by roadworks; however, the new plastic pipe has a minimum lifespan of 80 years. This means that when the work is complete, people will continue to enjoy the benefits of a safe and secure gas supply for years to come.”