Long wait for underpass work is unacceptable

The Old Town Bypass was not built to be pedestrian-friendly. That's why there are no pavements.

From the outset, the only planned means for pedestrians to pass over or under it was via the footbridges or the underpass.

For much of the time during the wet summer of 2007 and especially now in winter the underpass is unusable because a recurrent flooding problem.

Now think young and vulnerable children...

Think dark winter mornings and gloomy end-of-schoolday winter afternoons.

It is the perfect recipe for tragedy.

Thanks to concerned mothers of children attending Chantry Community Primary School and worried councillors, the Highways Agency has now accepted that the flooding problem cannot be allowed to continue.

The concerning news is that finding a solution is more complex than the Highways Agency first thought. It had hoped that by fitting a mechanical pump it could shift the water.

But it has now found that a drain buried beneath the underpass is blocked.

The footway in the underpass will have to be dug up, the blockage cleared and a manhole fitted so that in future the drain can be maintained and kept clear.

This work is estimated to take a week, during which the underpass will have to be closed.

Walkers will be advised that their alternative is via Chapel Path to London Road - where they will have to take their chances at the busy traffic lights.

Clearly, it is not an alternative at all for many.

Worse still, the Highways Agency says it will not be undertaking the work until next March!

That underpass is not only used by parents and young children.

For many pensioners are also dependent on it as their only practicable means of getting to the town centre on foot.

This is an unacceptably long wait for what are clearly essential repairs. Let us hope that those who are forced to take their lives in their hands by dodging trunk road traffic can do so without incident over the next three months.