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Frustrated drivers are facing eight sets of roadworks across Canterbury, which has led to gridlocked roads this week.
Fed-up motorists have labelled the number of projects in the city as "insanity", as congestion leads to hour-and-a-half tailbacks.
The issue causing the biggest headache for many is a burst water pipe which led to the closure of the A257 Littlebourne Road.
As well as leaving hundreds of homes without a supply, it has led to vehicles continuing to be directed along Warwick Road and through the Spring Lane estate.
It means journeys of less than one mile are now taking drivers 30 minutes to complete.
The decision by South East Water engineers to dig a hole in the road outside St Martin’s Hill Post Office has no fixed end date set.
Canterbury City Council (CCC) member, Alister Brady, predicted the permit for the work, which was due to expire yesterday (Wednesday) evening, was likely to be extended.
And water company bosses confirmed this would be the case on Wednesday morning
Updating the latest situation, South East water distribution manager Garth Haselgrove said: “We are sorry for the inconvenience caused by the closure of St Martin’s Hill in Canterbury.
“This is for the safety of the public and our workforce as we carry out repairs to a burst water main in the area.
“We know road closures can be frustrating for motorists and we apologise for this.
“Due to the added complications of other utilities being close by, this a complex repair and we cannot give an exact timeframe on how long the road closure will be in place for.
“However, we are applying for an extension to our current permit.
“Our team is working as quickly and safely as possible to complete the repair and get the road re-opened.
“We thank the community for their patience and understanding while we carry out this important work.”
Cllr Brady, the ward councillor for Chartham and Stone Street, says traffic is being compounded by temporary lights being installed in Sturry Road at the junction of New Town Street on the A28.
It has left drivers facing long delays on the stretch while gas company, SGN, carries out repairs ahead of the road’s expected reopening on January 23.
The company though will be installing a different set of two-way lights on the A-road when it carries out maintenance near Vauxhall Road for eight days from tomorrow.
This is alongside a separate set of two-way lights in Broad Oak Road being in force overnight Tuesday until Friday.
Cllr Brady, who also represents Canterbury City North on Kent County Council (KCC), said: “Six of the eight [roadworks] are emergency work by utility companies who are legally able to close the road and then inform KCC afterwards.
“The KCC streetworks team has requested updates from the works’ promoters as soon as we receive them.
“The sites are also being inspected by the KCC streetworks inspectors each day to make sure the sites are occupied.”
Dozens of residents though have blasted the decision to have so many happening all at once.
One neighbour said: "Absolute insanity at seven o’clock this morning in terms of traffic. I’ve never known it like this. It’s a 90-minute tailback end-to-end.
Another person added: "We were in city centre at about 11am and the traffic by St George's roundabout was horrendous.
"Buses are queued up because they couldn't get into the station - the roundabout by the police station was jammed up and the turning by the bridge was blocked up by traffic."
Others described the situation as "madness" and something which is creating "chaos" on the roads.
Further closures across Canterbury are currently being caused by temporary lights on the A28 roundabout's junction with Military Road and temporary lights being installed in St Dunstans Street (A290) for road marking improvements. Both sets of works are due to be completed overnight tonight.
There are also overnight closures in Thaninngton tonight, for planned Openreach works and post replacement works.
A spokesperson for KCC said: "Utility companies have a legal right to access their assets, and we can't control when they complete repairs.
“As the majority of these are emergency works, which means we cannot refuse a permit to ensure that critical issues are addressed without delay, we cannot co-ordinate streetworks as we usually would.
'We are working with the utility companies to ensure that someone is working at each site and that the works are completed as quickly as possible."