Weymouth: Residents frustrated by Dorchester Road works

There have been delays on Dorchester Road in the Lodmoor area of Weymouth due to temporary traffic lights which have been up since early August.

The lights were finally removed yesterday after repairs on behalf on Openreach were carried out to a manhole.

Mary Herron runs the Lilac Villa guest house near to where the roadworks have been taking place.

The 78-year-old claims that the temporary traffic lights had been up ‘for more than four weeks and no works had been taking place.’

As reported, the delays in getting the works completed also made life ‘a misery’ for two elderly residents who were no longer able to catch a bus from outside their homes as bus stops in the area were out of use due to the works.

Mrs Herron said: “If people saw work going on, they would be a lot more accepting of the situation. The fact there has been no action has got people frustrated.”

Contractors were seen on site yesterday carrying out the repair - with the lights being removed later in the afternoon.

One of the bus stops near Lilac Villa guest house which was out of use (Image: Hollie Carr)

Mrs Herron explained that she has had to apologise to her guests and warn them that the bus service is not as it states on the website because the bus stop was out of action.

She said: “From a business point of view, we advertise our B&B as being close to a bus stop that will get you into town or into Dorchester easily, we have people come and stay in our ground floor rooms who have mobility issues.

“A lot of people don’t want to walk to Tesco to get a bus – I feel bad for them. I understand that the work has to be done. We needed better communication.”

She reported the issue with the manhole back in January.

Not only did the works impact those staying in the B&B, but local elderly residents as well.

Mrs Herron said: “There is a 96-year-old local gentleman who has been ringing me asking if the bus stop is in action as he wanted to leave his mobility scooter here and catch the bus as he couldn’t get to town on his mobility scooter.”

She also recently had a fall in her garden which has left her unable to drive but she explained that ‘she could have been able to get on the bus but couldn’t walk all the way to Tesco.’

A spokesperson for Openreach said: “We are really sorry for the disruption that has been caused here. Our work has taken far longer than we'd ever have imagined, mainly due to resourcing issues at a very busy time in the area.

“But it was important that we got it done, and that the engineers working there were able to work safely. Everything is now complete, and the traffic management is being cleared away.

“Our teams work all over the country, every day of the year, and the majority of our work is completed on-time. Unfortunately, this work to replace and repair an underground chamber took much longer, and we can only apologise for that."