OPINION: This week’s Broadway roadworks were a big failure – so why are some calling it an even bigger success?


The A308 on Monday morning. Photo from Karen Gwilliam

As I’m sure you’re all aware by now, roadworks at the Frascati Way/Broadway junction have caused disruption in and around the town centre as the council prepares to convert Broadway in to a two-way system.

Monday’s disruption brought much of Maidenhead to a halt with delays of up to an hour in and around the town centre, not helped by an accident on the M4. Nevertheless, congestion was so bad that leader of the council, Cllr Simon Dudley, announced that traffic lights will be manually operated during peak times as well as an ‘extended working day’ to ensure that the works are completed on time.

The debacle has left many – myself included – wondering: “what’s the point?” The current one-way system has worked relatively well for years; of course, there are some days where the town can become very busy, such as snow days or on big events in Maidenhead, but for the most part the one-way system has worked at getting cars into and out of the town centre without too much hassle.

So why have the council chosen Monday 25th February 2019 to commence a non-essential, ten-week roadworks project? The answer is simple: publicity. The Conservative candidates are loving this, and it’s what they believe will win them another local election come May.

Take Gurch Singh’s video posted Sunday evening, where he discussed the beginning of the roadworks that he claimed will last about six weeks (despite the Advertiser stating it will take eight) as well as advising commuters to add a couple of extra minutes to their journey. This video was uploaded on Sunday evening.

Fast forward 24 hours, and the video had received almost 8,000 views and over a hundred comments across different Maidenhead Facebook groups. Most of these mentioned the chaos of the morning’s traffic as well questions of why this had been started on the week that most schools had returned from half term. Again, the answer is simple: publicity.

Mr Singh, who it should be emphasised is NOT a councillor and so would have had no official say over the roadworks, is one of many Conservative candidates increasing their social media presence in a bid to win cheap votes.

The Conservative councillor for Pinkneys Green is another – I didn’t even know who he was until about six weeks ago, and I live in his ward! While I’m glad that St Marks Wheel of Fortune has come to an end with the introduction of the roundabout, this should have been done months, arguably even years ago.

St Marks proposals by RBWM

I’d like to insist that this is not a dedicated attack on Conservative candidates – I would be saying the exact same if these were Labour, Lib Dem, Green or Borough First candidates for example. While I approve of necessary investment, I fear that the Broadway/Frascati Way junction is not in need of essential restructuring. My worry is that the heavy investment and engagement seen at the moment will not remain after the May elections once the Conservatives have got their votes, and we will be stuck with a large majority that will have no responsibility to its residents.

I hope I am proved wrong…

 Follow me on Twitter @ShayBottomley

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