THE traffic lights at St Mark's roundabout will be out of action for a few more weeks.

It comes as Salisbury's Conservative group has written to Highways England to express its "total dissatisfaction and frustration with the current situation on the A36". 

The lights were switched off following damage caused by the on-going resurfacing work, and the repair work is to be undertaken "in the coming weeks", say Highways England. 

The Conservatives say a Wiltshire Council officer has explained to them that the traffic light outage, caused by a contractor accidentally damaging the ducts and power cables connecting the lights, would only be repaired in months, not weeks, while also noting that the roundabout is "not suitable for operation without traffic lights".

Conservative councillor Charles McGrath, who represents Salisbury Milford, says he has been contacted by many residents "about near-misses", especially involving cars entering the roundabout from Wain-a-Long Road and Estcourt Road. 

Highways England Route Manager Neil Winter said: “Regarding the traffic light outage at St Mark’s roundabout, the signals were switched off following damage caused by resurfacing work.

"We are unaware of any near misses, no congestion has been reported by Wiltshire Council, and repair work will be undertaken in the coming weeks. In the meantime, we apologise for any inconvenience caused.”

The A36 cycle scheme has experienced some delays due to unforeseen service lines, meaning the pavements had to be hand dug using specialist equipment and the current plan is to reopen the cycleway at the end of June.

Regarding work on the cycleway and other improvements to the A36, Highways England works closely both Wiltshire and Salisbury Council through liaison meetings and consultations and all work is pre-approved and often undertaken in partnership. 

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