Traffic is a hot topic in Splott and, lately, the words on everybody’s lips are ‘what’s happening with Beresford Road Bridge?”.
If you live in Splott or Adamsdown, or just drive through the neighbourhood on your way to and from work, you’ll know that Beresford Road Bridge is now down to a single lane managed by traffic lights.
This week, Network Rail contractors began work to divert the utilities such as electricity and gas that are buried in the road. One by one, each of these services will be diverted to the temporary pedestrian bridge, to the east of the current bridge.
Throughout this work, the existing bridge will be down to one lane, managed by traffic lights. The lights will be in operation 24 hours a day, seven days a week for the coming weeks (eleven weeks according to the signs on the road).
Network Rail Programme Manager, Karl Gilmore, told Inksplott:
“Due to the extensive and complex nature of the engineering works, with the bridge being demolished and built in the same position, we are unable to allow traffic to use the bridge during the bulk of works. We understand that closing the road for a prolonged period of time is not ideal. As such, we have challenged our contractors to undertake as much of the work as they possibly can whilst the road remains open, or part open (down to single lanes).
We understand local concerns regarding the build-up of traffic, especially considering Windsor Road Bridge remains closed, but I would like to stress that we will not fully close Beresford Road until Windsor Road fully opens to traffic. We will be in a position to confirm exact dates for the closure of Beresford Road in the coming weeks.”
Network Rail expects the bulk of work on the bridge to be undertaken between August 2016 and February 2017, though the exact programme of work is yet to be finalised.
Congestion in Splott was bad Wednesday night at around six pm, as it often is, with many junctions at deadlock. Whether this was a direct result of the single lane traffic flow on the bridge or the monsoon-like torrential rainfall, who knows? According to one local resident I spoke to, it was simply rush-hour traffic in Splott as usual.
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