Telford's Shawbirch roundabout roadworks defended after traffic lights fail

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Motorists took to Twitter and Facebook to vent their anger at more delays.

But council chiefs say delays have "reduced dramatically" since the roadworks started earlier this week. They say the work is also essential to the future growth of the borough.

Telford & Wrekin Council spokesman Russell Griffin said: "The issue with the temporary lights being stuck on red was fairly short-lived.

"We had a minor problem with the temporary lights at 6am when they stopped working. However our out-of-hours officer responded immediately and the problem was fixed by 6.30am.

"Delays have reduced dramatically and currently queue times are being reported of five minutes.

"On-site timed delays recorded by the traffic operatives at rush hour yesterday morning was a maximum of eight minutes.

"We are aware that the Shawbirch works, particularly the temporary traffic signals that have been in place since Monday, are resulting in delays for motorists in the local area.

"As such it is worth reminding ourselves of the bigger picture.

"These lights have been put in place to allow the contractor to carry out the road reconstruction works in advance of the final surfacing to be carried out in January.

"We need to carry out the work now to avoid problems on the road network when the improvement works start at Ketley Brook Roundabout in the New Year.

"We are working with the contractor to ensure the reconstruction work at Shawbirch is completed as quickly as possible and would thank road users for their patience and co-operation during this time."All the junction improvements currently under way are essential to the borough's future growth and without the work future commercial and residential developments would not be able to take place.

"The work is being funded by the Marches Local Enterprise Partnership and contributions by developers. However, this funding is only available until March 2017 which is another reason why we have to carry out the work now.

"During the planning stages of the projects in 2015 we had a deliverable programme of works which meant that only two major junctions on separate traffic routes would be worked on at the same time.

"However the failure of Severn Trent Water to divert their water mains has delayed some of the projects meaning we have no option to work on several junctions at the same time as failure to complete the projects by March next year would jeopardise the funding available."

Temporary four-way traffic lights were put in place earlier this week and will remain in place until December 23.

The council had warned that road reconstruction works would take place which will "cause unavoidable delays" at the roundabout during this period.

At the start of the week drivers reported delays of up to 30 minutes have been reported on the A442 at the roundaboutsince the lights went up, with scores of motorists taking to social media to vent their anger.