Year-long roadworks planned near housing site branded 'a disaster for Warwick and Leamington'

Planned major roadworks near a new housing development site have been branded “a disaster for Warwick and Leamington”.

Recently, some residents in Hatton have been receiving letters from Warwick County Council about the upcoming works on the A4177 Birmingham Road relating to developer Taylor Wimpey’s Union View site, a site that has already caused issues with nearby residents.

In the letter, it says the work is being done to provide a permanent access to the new site and is due to start in mid-October and last for around 11 months.

The work includes creating widening the A4177 and creating a pedestrian crossing, shared walking and cycle path widening work, new drainage, surfacing and upgrading street lighting.

The letter goes on to say: “The developer, local authority and contractor teams have been working together to agree how best to manage traffic to minimise delays on the Birmingham Road and the surrounding road network.

“The impact on local residents and businesses has been at the forefront of the planning for traffic management and the programming of the construction.”

Despite this assurance, many residents have hit out against the plans with one resident branding it 'an apocalyptic disaster’ for the area due to the impact it will have on th road a neighbouring major routes.

Elaine Kemp, a Hatton resident and campaigner, said: “On September 22 at a Hatton parish council meeting, residents learnt that there are going to be major roadworks outside the new Union View housing development for a period of one year, commencing October 19.

“This will affect tens of thousands of other motorists who use the A4177 and all surrounding main roads and the M40/M42/M5/M6.

“Having fought Union View for years, all of our professes are coming home to roost – in what can only be described as a major disaster area.

“The fiasco that has emerged between highways’ incompetence and agreeing to Union View without undertaking any traffic survey since 2011 has now hit the buffers.

“The infrastructure cannot sustain what is about to be an apocalyptic disaster for Warwick and Leamington and all surrounding motorway networks.”

Other residents have also taken to social media pages to express their frustrations at the time frame and concerns about children using transport being able to get school on time.

The works are due to take place between 8am and 6pm on weekdays and some weekend work and bank holiday has also been planned – due to take place between 8am and 1pm.

The letter from the council also states that there will be temporary traffic lights 24/7, which are due to be manually controlled during the day ‘to respond to traffic flows onsite’.

It also says that the council is planning on holding a community engagement event about the planned works, where people can speak to members of the team about the work.

A date for this event is yet to announced.