Drivers faced long, frustrating journeys during rush-hour as parts of Bishop’s Stortford once again ground to a halt on the hottest days of the year.
Monday saw motorists trying to get into and out of the south of the town hit by the closure of Linkside Road and road works along London Road.
The work at the junction of Pig Lane was in order for Openreach to repair two connected cabinets which had been damaged in a road accident. The damage to the cabinets led to some residents in the area losing phone and internet connections.
Three-way traffic signals were put in place, but they did not appear to be co-ordinated with the signals further up at the junction with Whittington Way.
An Openreach spokesperson said on Monday: “We can confirm that two connected cabinets in Bishop's Stortford have been substantially damaged following a road traffic accident. This is affecting broadband and landlines in the vicinity.
"Our engineers have carried out initial repairs, restoring broadband service to some customers in the area. More work is set to be carried out in the coming days to restore all services back to normal as soon as possible.
“We understand how frustrating this must be for anyone is affected and we thank anyone involved for their patience while we get things fixed. Anyone experiencing any disruption with their phone or broadband service to report it to their service provider who will then inform us. Members of the public can help us by reporting any damage or unsafe equipment on our network via the Help and Support section of our website."
One driver faced with the closure of Linkside Road expressed his frustration when he only discovered it was closed after travelling to the top of Beldams Lane.
The A1250 Hadham Road was then closed mid-morning on Monday for work by Affinity Water to repair a leak at the junction of Bells Hill. This caused huge jams for drivers trying to get into town on Tuesday morning.
One driver said the queues started at the new A120 bypass roundabout and it took him more than 40 minutes to travel the few miles into Stortford.
There were jams on the Tesco roundabout, on the A1184 Bishop’s Park Way, the junction of Hadham Road with Stortford Fields and heavy traffic in Cricketfield Lane as drivers tried to get round the closure.
The disruption in Bishop’s Stortford comes after news that the completion of a controversial scheme to upgrade junction 8 of the M11 and the intersection of the A120 with Birchanger Lane and the A1250 Dunmow Road was yet again delayed.
Contractor John Sisk & Son, which is carrying out the work for Essex County Council, was supposed to finish on June 13, but further “minor issues” led to more delays. Essex CC was contacted by the Indie on Tuesday but no further update was provided.
•Red light for A120 junction works after signals fail the test: p17