Correct me if I'm wrong, but I always thought that the council's Highways department was responsible for co-ordinating any planned roadworks to be carried out by their own personnel, contractors or other parties.

Now it would appear that in the past week between Monday January 19 and Friday January 23, there were three or more roadworks clogging up roads in or around Chippenham.

I was myself was held up at roadworks at The Pheasant (where little appeared to be going on) and Cocklebury Road, going to and from work at rush hour. I was also made aware of roadworks near Bumpers Farm.

Now, from the ensuing bottlenecks and jams caused by the said roadworks, it would appear that not much planning went into this. In fact, it struck me as a spectacular example of bureaucratic incompetence.

Does the planning department plan anything, or is it just a case of not giving a damn for the poor motorists?

I am sure that you are aware that Chippenham is a nightmare for motorists (particularly the High Street) at rush hour, and these not so well organised roadworks make it a lot worse.

Now I do appreciate that such roadworks are a necessary evil, but can't they stagger the dates or is it too much to ask?

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