Posted: Tue 10th Apr 2018

Alterations to new traffic layout on Deeside Industrial Estate will be made ahead of tonight’s’ rush hour

News and Info from Deeside, Flintshire, North Wales
This article is old - Published: Tuesday, Apr 10th, 2018

Update: A spokesperson for Flintshire County Council has said:

’Last night was the first day of the trial traffic management period.

Following observations and the feedback from the business, alterations to the traffic management will be made ahead of the peak time tonight.

The alteration will involve the removal of the left turn only facility towards Flint and will allow both lanes to exit directly onto the roundabout.

This is a trial period and alterations will continue to be made until we find the optimum traffic flows and a reduction in congestion’’

Original story:

New ‘trial’ traffic management measures on Deeside Industrial Estate which have been branded by road users as a ‘fiasco and shambles’ will see alterations made ahead of this evenings rush hour.

The move follows Monday nights rush hour which saw hundreds of workers stuck in traffic queues of up to 45 minutes as they made their way home from zone 2 of the park.

The new measures are set to remain in place for minimum of two weeks, and has seen the installation of a lane closure and dedicated ‘left turn only’ exit of Zone 2 at the roundabout.

Deeside.com understands alterations will be made today to ease congestion on the park – yesterday’s ‘chaos’ was observed by council officials on zone 2 Parkway and Fourth Avenue within park.

Alterations will continue to be made until Flintshire County Council has found ‘optimum traffic flows’ and a reduction in congestion is made.

The council said it would welcome feedback on the trial measures, Deeside.com took the opportunity to gather feedback via social media, over 200 people have commented about the new measures our Facebook page since yesterday.

Many comments have come from angry motorists who were stuck in traffic and left bewildered at the changes being implemented all be it for a trial period.

Vicky said: “Absolutely dreadful. Whoever thought that was going to alleviate the traffic surely hasn’t a clue what it’s like there at 5pm every night. They should have performed some better traffic monitoring prior to making this decision.”

While Jacqueline said: “Took me 40 mins to get off estate… usually only takes me 20 mins to get home. If this was supposed to ease traffic, what a disaster, hope they sort all the pot holes too on the Estate

Gaynor commented: “It was totally gridlocked, why they had to put the bollards right on the main roundabout is beyond me. 
Why did they not just put them along the two lanes with road signs a lot earlier in place, that way everybody joining the main roundabout would have been in the right lane at the right time, but to go and place a line of bollards on the main exit roundabout off the park was just a recipe for disaster it was absolute total chaos….FCC could not organise a p…. up in a brewery…it took nearly 45 minutes to clear the queues of traffic..even a police car had to go over a roundabout instead of round it……”

There are many many ……

Several people got in touch by email to vent anger and offer advice to the council over the issue:

Ian Cavanagh a project manager who works at a firm on the park said;

“How does anyone believe that restricting the traffic flow will improve the already chaotic situation at Shotwick Road??

I now have another 20 minutes sitting in traffic and as my engine is not warm, it does not shut off, thus the increase in fumes and carbon dioxide and other pollutants will massively increase.

What about the local carbon footprint let alone, our commute time!

We either need another exit or staggered exit times such as flexi-time or different start/finish times. This is the only way to effectively increase the flow rate of traffic in the area.

If that fails, install traffic lights at timed intervals!”

While one company boss, who asked not to be named – said it was pretty obvious what was going to happen:

“Before this new traffic management plan even came into place last week, those of us who use the estate could see this would not work.

The new measures would supposedly allow traffic leaving zone 2 and turning left to leave the estate quickly.

We (who know the estate and its layout problems) know that 90% of traffic out of the estate turns right and uses two lanes; now we only have one lane…. Pretty obvious what would happen.”

He added:

“The traffic heading along shotwick road for flint/zone 3 from the right needs to slowed down and stopped for periods. It only needs traffic lights from 16:30 to 17:30 and that’s it. It would appear straightforward to install temporary traffic lights as a trial?

Whoever is attempting to sort out the traffic, we are thankful something is finally being done, however engaging local business people who live and work on the estate for their ideas would probably help.”

Let us know how this evening’s rush hour goes – send a Facebook Message | A direct message on Twitter  | Email News@Deeside.com

Deeside.com has asked Flintshire County Council to comment.

Spotted something? Got a story? Send a Facebook Message | A direct message on Twitter | Email: News@Deeside.com
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