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Couldn't they see it coming?
WHEN the ability to forward plan was handed out, Calderdale Highways Department was somewhere near the back of the queue.
Perhaps it is some masochistic bent that drives them from one bout of criticism to another.
And that in fact there is a perverse enjoyment from constantly being the villain of the piece in the eyes of motorists.
The Hipperholme traffic lights situation was a nightmare. Twice in 12 months contractors ripped up newly laid road to settle their pipes, causing mayhem on traffic stretching in four different directions.
Could it have been avoided? Maybe not. Could it have been planned better? Certainly.
Now switch to the other side of Halifax and a better example of attempting to close the stable door after the horse has bolted you will not find.
Work on the new library at King Cross means encroachment into Aachen Way and that makes it necessary under law to close one of its two carriageways inbound from Sowerby Bridge.
The result, as anyone might have predicted, is pandemonium, with queues snaking all the way back towards Sowerby Bridge.
Now we are told highway engineers are looking at rephasing King Cross traffic lights to help ease the congestion and cut down delays.
Never mind "looking at". How about a little anticipation.
Those who have been stuck in the queues once say 'Never again' and are finding alternatives routes through side roads.
It is hardly surprising as it is estimated this work will go on until next spring.
Recalibrating the lights at King Cross should have been one of the first items on the agenda when this work was discussed.
But, as ever, the needs of the motorist come last.
It is not just drivers affected here either. As a result, business catches a cold, both in lost man hours and the delays of getting goods to and from their destinations.
It is fair to concede that Calderdale, because of its geography, poses immense problems for highways planners.
But surely they should be adopting more than a suck-it-and-see approach, especially when everything around them is grinding to a halt?
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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