An Angus business owner fears seven weeks of roadworks will bring his firm financial ruin.
Closure of the west port junction of West High Street, Glamis Road and Dundee Loan in Forfar has caused drivers massive delays in getting across town.
Work at the junction, carried out by Land and Building Services Ltd and Siemens, involves replacing the traffic signals and associated cables as well as road and pavement work on all four approaches.
Temporary signals on St James’ Road have otherwise choked traffic coming in from the east.
Graeme Thomson, of car sales firm Canmore Motors, fears his business may not survive until the time the west port is finished.
He told The Courier: ”It’s early days but next to no one is coming in now. I had one person who didn’t make it in to see a car.
”Even though I’d given them directions to come down New Road, they got diverted and gave up.
”I have just phoned the council to see if I can get someone from (the roads department) to speak to me but haven’t heard anything yet.”
When asked about the amount of consultation that took place prior to the roadworks, Mr Thomson added: ”I hadn’t heard from anyone. There was a letter out in plenty of time but I took it to mean there would still be one lane of traffic.
”As it turns out, Land and Building Services came round and they said they wanted to do all the planned work at once. Even then, I didn’t realise business would suffer as much as it is.”
On the firm’s prospects, he said: ”We are not equipped for this at all. We don’t sell many cars at this time of year as it is and I’ve had to cancel repair work on top of this.”
A spokesman for Angus Council said: ”These essential works, currently being undertaken in the centre of Forfar, were widely publicised in advance, and this included direct contact by letter with residents and businesses in the local vicinity in the Dundee Loan/West High Street/Glamis Road/Craig o’ Loch Road area.
”Access is to be maintained for affected households and businesses throughout the period of work. Every effort is being made to minimise inconvenience, although there may be some disruption at times.
”Any business or householder with serious difficulties relating to access should contact the roads service via the council’s ACCESSLine on 08452 777 778.
”We ask for the patience and cooperation of motorists while these essential works are completed.”