Published: Friday, 9th May, 2008 12:00
Drivers facing road chaos
By Eric Baxter
Print Article
GAPING HOLE: The subsidence on the A78 coast road has been coned off, main image. Congestion builds up at the Longhill junction in Skelmorlie, inset.
Pic by: George Munro
MOTORISTS are facing another day of peak-time chaos on the A78 coast road.
A mile of the road has been closed between Longhill and Eglinton Terrace in Skelmorlie after it collapsed under coastal erosion on Wednesday afternoon, damaging a sewer.
Vehicles are being diverted up to the back of Skelmorlie and back down to the coast road.
But delays are being caused because parts of the diversion are too narrow to accommodate a bus or truck on one side and car on the other, with vehicles mounting pavements to pass.
Major delays are also being caused at the Longhill junction, because the bend in the road there is wide enough for one-way traffic only, forcing vehicles to queue up the hill into Skelmorlie and along the A78 towards Wemyss Bay.
Roads contractor Amey said they had to treat it as an emergency closure because the subsidence was 11m long and 2.5m wide, stretching from the coastal edge into the middle of the road.
A spokeswoman said it would not have been possible to erect temporary lights to allow traffic to use one side of the road.
She said: “There has to be a minimum distance between workers and traffic to ensure safety, and there wasn’t enough room to let a lane of traffic use it. We had to close a mile of the road because no other diversions were available.”
The Telegraph asked the police and Amey if they would provide traffic control at the Longhill junction to ease congestion.
The police said it was Amey’s responsibility and Amey put lights in place this morning.
A Scottish Water spokeswoman said: “Our engineers are carrying out repairs. The road has suffered coastal erosion resulting in a 10-metre stretch collapsing and damaging the sewer.
“We are liaising with Amey and North Ayrshire Council. The repairs are expected to be completed this afternoon and the road will then re-open.”
Del.icio.us
Digg
Facebook
Reddit
Stumbleupon
‘Jail me’ man gets his wish and protests
