FURIOUS motorists are seeing red regarding long-running repair work that is creating traffic turmoil.

Temporary traffic lights have been in operation for about eight months on the busy A6034 in Bolton Road, Silsden.

Bradford Council is rebuilding a section of the wall along the road.

Silsden Mayor, Councillor Peter Robinson, says there are huge tailbacks of vehicles at peak times.

"It's been going on for far too long," he added.

"It is causing appalling congestion.

"A lot of people have complained to me about it and asked me to raise the matter. We discussed it as a town council and contacted the local authority, which just gave us a vague response that the work 'wouldn't take long now'.

"It's a ridiculous situation."

Motorist Tim Dewey uses the route, between Silsden and Addingham, daily.

Mr Dewey – chief executive at Timothy Taylor brewery in Keighley – said many of his staff and contractors also drove that way regularly and are equally frustrated.

"This relatively simple construction work has now been ongoing since about November," he added.

"It's painfully slow.

"At one stage I thought it was coming to an end, but then they knocked down another section of wall!

"We did have bad weather earlier this year, but as it improved there was no change in the speed of work.

"I can only assume the council went for the lowest-cost bid when it was awarding the work and therefore believed it was a money-saving choice.

"What the council failed to take into account is the 'cost' in lost time and inconvenience that it has put on to thousands of road users every day, not to mention the environmental damage of cars needlessly idling at the temporary lights, which do not even appear to be of the modern type that can change quickly if no traffic is coming from one direction.

"If our company ran its capital projects this way, we would still be waiting for our brewery to be built on the Knowle Spring site 153 years later!"

Bradford Council says a 400-metre stretch of wall is having to be completely rebuilt to make it safe.

A spokesman added: "Progress of the work was hampered earlier in the year by severe bad weather, but it should be completed on August 7."

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