Frustrated drivers are being urged to show patience as major roadworks in Dundee cause drivers “a little pain for a lot of gain.”
Will Dawson, city development convener at Dundee City Council, said alterations have already been made to traffic control measures to help motorists through congestion since the closure of South Marketgait to eastbound traffic earlier this week.
Despite being advertised for weeks, the works, to last until September, appear to have caught out some drivers trying to cross the city, resulting in confusion and tailbacks at peak times.
Drivers approaching Dundee have reported times of up to 35 minutes to cross the Tay Road Bridge.
Mr Dawson said, “We’ve made some minor changes to signage but otherwise the information that we have had is that things are going reasonably well. What we have the ability to do to traffic lights in the town centre area is manually change the timings.
“Normally, the amount of time it takes to get off the bridge is three to four minutes and the most that we have recorded is six minutes. It’s a little pain for a lot of gain and I would ask people to just show common sense when planning their routes.”
This website and our Facebook page have received reports of some motorists trying to cheat the closure of South Marketgait by going through City Quay. Mr Dawson assured residents there that steps had been taken to stop any further disruption.
“We didn’t expect that to happen and we will keep an eye on things so that City Quay residents are not disturbed.”
Asked if further refinements could be made, Mr Dawson added, “It shouldn’t be too much of a problem.”
Tayside Police has already reported a number of motorists trying to cheat one-way systems in a bid to avoid the works.
Head of road traffic policing Gordon Taylor said, “There were some vehicles going through the prohibition at the back of the Caird Hall. There were officers put to that when the complaint came in and there will be officers monitoring it.”