A ‘DANGEROUS’ road had to be closed on the same day it re-opened after motorists compared its new gradient to that of a roller-coaster.
Cars travelling through the new crossroads junction on Hillmorton Lane, linking to the under-construction road between Houlton and Clifton Road, were scraping the tarmac when it re-opened on Friday (February 1).
The road was closed again before the end of the day after residents reacted with outrage on social media.
One motorist compared driving through the new junction – which comprises an abrupt flat section in the middle of a steep incline – to the famous car chase through hilly San Francisco in the Steve McQueen film Bullitt.
The road will now be closed until February 25 while contractors Galliford Try perform a safety audit and design review, as instructed by Warwickshire County Council (WCC).
The roadworks were funded and managed by Houlton master developers Urban & Civic, at no cost to the taxpayer.
Hillmorton County Councillor Yousef Dahmash described the situation as ‘ridiculous’.
He said: “It is obviously incredibly disappointing and frustrating that the road had to be closed almost immediately after opening and we need urgent answers from the County Council and the developers.
“We need to establish how this was allowed to happen in the first place. The road was clearly unsafe to use and should not have been opened.
“I’ve been assured there will be no cost to the public purse.”
Jim Ellis, chair of Friends of East Rugby Group, said that cars would probably end up in a ditch if they drove through the junction at 30mph.
“It’s a simple case of poor engineering,” he said. “Local residents are not very happy. The whole community was really looking forward to the road opening.
“Obviously the road has been deemed dangerous. And we just wait now to see what the solution is.”
Galliford Try declined to respond to The Observer’s queries, instead passing them on to WCC.
A WCC spokesman said that prior to the road re-opening, the council instigated an interim Road Safety Audit as a precautionary measure due to the change of alignment at the junction.
He said: “Upon opening the road, and subjecting it to normal conditions, it came to light there was an unforeseen issue with its alignment which may potentially have been damaging to vehicles.
“The contractor and the developer’s designers have been investigating the problem and are currently arranging a solution to rectify the issue.
“The county council approved the closure of the road to enable remedial work to be carried out. We understand that this will be disappointing for residents but safeguarding road users and their vehicles has to be the priority.”
The under-construction 1.5 mile link road will connect the existing Clifton Road junction at Butlers Leap to the edge of the fledgeling neighbourhood of Houlton. It is due to open later this year.
