Angry residents throw ‘birthday party’ for long-running roadworks

A group of neighbours hosted a birthday party for roadworks in a colourful display of discontent with their local council.

Residents of Mead Way in Swindon, Wiltshire, brought a cake and a birthday banner to make light of the long-running work.

They said the party was to mark the second birthday of the roadworks.

While the road is open to traffic, cones and barriers are in place, bus stops are unfinished, and other problems still persist, the residents complain.

The disgruntled locals are unhappy at the lack of progress and communication by Swindon Borough Council.

The street also features a sign with the road’s name incorrectly spelled.

West Swindon councillor Jim Robbins organised the gathering and supplied the cake.

He said he hoped it would help those looking for answers of when the road would finally be finished get them.

Cllr Robbins said: “We are holding this party to raise awareness of just how much the roadworks here at Mead Way have overrun.

“It beggars belief that we still don’t have an end date in sight.

“It has been more than 12 weeks since the road reopened, but the cones are still out, delays still happen, and the people who use Mannington Rec still have their car park out of action due to the contractors’ compound being sited there.

“Whilst the party is a bit of fun, the repeated failures of the council to complete roadworks on time has very serious and real issues for residents.

“We have heard countless stories of delays and inconvenience caused by the works here.”

Swindon council has responded to the party protest by saying it understands residents’ frustrations but reiterated that a lot of the issues that caused the delays were outside of its control.

Cabinet member for strategic infrastructure, transport and planning, councillor Gary Sumner said: “I think we can all say we would have hoped to have it fully completed by now.

“But this scheme has been plagued with a number of issues, many of which were outside of the council’s control, as Cllr Robbins is well aware.

“The good news is that Mead Way has been open to motorists since November of last year and I think most people would agree it has made a big difference to traffic flow in the local area.

“The final piece of work which still needs to be completed concerns the road barrier above the underpass.

“Once this is complete over the next couple of months we will then be able to carry out the road safety audit and remove all the outstanding traffic management.”