As part of flood defence works to protect Banbury the busy A361 between Banbury and Daventry has been closed for several months. A schoolboy error by Tory controlled Northamptonshire County Council has made matters worse as the road should have re-opened in July but will now be out of use until October.
‘The reason theA361 is shut for longer is that when the County Council approved the plans they forgot to make the new road wide enough to allow large lorries to pass each other.’ explained Liberal Democrat Councillor Chris Lofts of South Northamptonshire Council. ‘Surely someone at NCC had the sense to measure the width of the road before it was actually built. Now the new road has to be dug up and re-laid. What a waste of public money!’ he added.
The closure has caused chaos on rural roads and blighted villages across the west of South Northamptonshire. ‘The situation has been made worse as the annual Cropedy Music Festival now sits right in the middle of the closed road network. Extra traffic will be routed all round South Northamptonshire adding to congestion in Brackley, Towcester and several villages.’ commented South Northamptonshire Councillor Martin Johns. ‘There should be an enquiry into the mess caused by the Tories by bungling the road plans.’ suggested Martin.
This mistake by the Highways Department comes close on the heels of the disastrous Conservative Street Light Turn Off policy that has plunged communities into darkness across the county.