Traffic chaos at Telford retail park as road lanes closed for street light work
Motorists on the lunchtime rush were trapped on Wrekin Retail Park in Telford today, as lanes were shut on a busy roundabout for work to street lights.
The Ketley Brook roundabout between Wellington and Ketley was down to one lane in several places, as was Whitchurch Drive heading south towards the retail park.
Police and pedestrians helped to direct traffic at the retail park, which was disrupted from about 12pm. People trying to leave the main car park reported waiting over an hour on social media.
Retired Neil Mackay, from Pattingham near Wolverhampton, said: "I've been stuck here for about an hour and a half and nothing is moving. I'm going to be here all day.
"I've had to take all my frozen food shopping back to Tesco. I spoke to the manager and they had no idea about the roadworks.
"It's just chaos. The traffic is not being organised and nobody is letting anyone else out. The police need to come and organise this.
"If there's an emergency at the retail park, someone could die because the emergency services wouldn't be able to get there."
At the Tesco Extra car park at the top of the retail park, some cars were blocked in for more than three hours.
A statement by Telford & Wrekin Council said: "We are aware that motorists have experienced delays today as a result of lane closures at Ketley Brook roundabout and Whitchurch Drive and we would like to apologise for this.
"The work that is being carried out is being done by our street lighting contractor Prysmian.
"It is part of our ongoing programme of upgrading street lights to LED lighting.
"We will remove the traffic management that is in place as soon as possible and we would like to thank people for their patience and apologise for the inconvenience caused by the lane closures."
