UK councils and piss-ups in breweries
Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2014 12:21 am
do not allow them to attempt to organise one!
Council spent thousands and took two years to mend a bridge which had been weakened by lorries.
But when cars finally managed to get back on it they realised many couldn’t squeeze through the gap. Now just a month after reopning drivers are turning round at the tiny width restriction on the road which leads to the bridge – rather than trying to shoehorn their cars in to the tight gap. The new measures were put in place to stop vehicles wider than two metres entering an area where large lorries had caused more than £30,000 of damage to a bridge.
But after reopening at the start of the month, swarms of cars have been forced to turn round and find alternative routes - including cars as small as Minis. Residents branded it 'ridiculous' after black tyre marks were left on the pavement by cars narrowly squeezing through the gap. The traffic calming measures on Wilbury Villas Bridge in Hove, East Sussex, was paid for by Brighton and Hove City Council as part of bridge repairs. However, some of the UK's most popular cars, the Nissan Qashqai (width 2.07 metres), the BMW 3 Series (width 2.03 metres) and even a Mini Paceman Cooper (2 metres), can't fit through the restriction. Melanie White, business manager of the Dock cafe on neighbouring Lorna Road, said: 'Within 10 minutes of opening two people hit it, you can see all the black tyre marks on the side.
'It's stopping the wrong kind of people, it isn't stopping delivery drivers and white van men who take it at 30 or 40 miles an hour straight through. 'The restriction was supposed to make things better for the cafe but it really hasn't.' Resident Andy Wooler, 58, added: 'I understand there's a weight limit on the bridge but this is bad for anyone who drives anything big. 'The design is just ridiculous, this council can't spend money quick enough, how much are we spending on this?'
