DISRUPTION caused by repair work to a Bordon bridge is set to continue for another fortnight. Hampshire County Council put up signs this week, warning motorists the bridge, linking Chalet Hill and Mill Chase Road, would be closed to traffic for two weeks from Wednesday, despite the project being more than four weeks over its initial finish date. A council spokeswoman confirmed the work, which began on March 20 and was supposed to last for 12 weeks, is expected to be completed on July 28 - seven weeks behind schedule. Some motorists who use the route frequently say they are distressed at the delay, and the way engineering teams working on the bridge have managed traffic, with one woman likening the disruption to "an episode of Wacky Races". The woman, who did not want to be named, lives next to the bridge in Rivermead and has to travel over it at least six times daily, including during the school runs. She said: "Why can't they just get it done? "There are so many people around here who are fed up with the temporary traffic lights, and that's when the bridge is open. "The diversion signs are put up so randomly that people don't know when to believe them. "They try to get across the bridge, realise it's closed and then have to do U-turns in the road. "If the council or the contractors were put to such inconvenience, these repairs wouldn't take so long. There are times when I don't see anyone working on the bridge at all." Taxi driver Mike Steevens said: "The 'road closed' signs are so ambiguous, saying the bridge is open when it's closed and closed when it's open. "It's as if they don't care about changing them. "Even when it's open, there's nothing to say that big vehicles can't get through. "The other day, a skip lorry tried to cross, got stuck, and had to reverse out. "As for the time it's taking, I reckon the workmen must be the same guys who are building Wembley Stadium, and they can hardly blame it on the weather. "Because it's not an A road, the contractors won't face any penalty clauses for the work being overdue, so they can take as long as they like." Adam Carew, chairman of Whitehill and Bordon Town Council's planning and amenities committee, said he had also experienced problems trying to cross the bridge and confirmed the town council had expressed its disappointment at the delays to the council. He added that traffic-calming measures due to be installed in Forest Road, which will lead to a temporary closure of the road, will begin on July 31 after the bridge repairs are finished. In a statement, the county council revealed it had wanted to close the bridge entirely throughout the works, but had decided to compromise to prevent disruption, by allowing small vehicles across except at certain times. Its statement continued: "When the signs have indicated the road will be closed, some motorists have been confused and annoyed when they have found that the road has been re-opened during the early afternoon, when they assumed it would be closed all day. "In this situation, the contractor had finished his work earlier than expected and opened the road to help the residents. "It's not always possible to accurately predict the amount of time needed to carry out a particular operation. "Adding times to the closure signs is just not practical given the unpredictability of some of the operations on the site." The county council added that the repairs were essential because parts of the bridge, built more than 30 years ago when there were only two residential streets off Mill Chase Road, were weak and had to be replaced.
