Cambridge City centre has been undergoing work to replace aged gas pipes since last April with 10 streets in the city centre to undergo work by the National Grid in the last phase which is now predicted to finish in March next year, a month later than originally anticipated, resulting in further delays for local motorists.
The most recent phase has caused tremendous disruption for the Grand Arcade car park patrons, in Corn Exchange Street, however this has finally been completed giving relief to motorists using the area.
Sunday 12th June, the last day of the replacement work , saw delays of up to 90 minutes for motorists trying to leave the car park as the on street traffic management measures were finally removed.
Head of Cambridge City Council’s special services, Paul Necus, who run the car park, commented that staff were attempting to alleviate the problems arising from a large number of patrons exiting the car park at peak times.
The council have posted warning signs regarding the unavoidable delays and their staff have patrolled to ask people to be patient whilst the work was ongoing, although there could be several factors contributing to the problems encountered.
Emmanuel Road will be the site of the next phase of the gas pipe repair work, which was scheduled to start in mid June in Petty Cury but, due to building renovation work in the area, work has been setback until November.
Chris Naylor, project manager, apologised for any inconvenience caused, but stated that safety reasons necessitated the delay.