A BURST water main sent a huge geyser into the sky outside Monmouth’s Bridges, adding to the traffic chaos caused by numerous roadworks and temporary traffic lights.

A one-way system operating down the high street is being installed for up to two months this week to accommodate the ongoing water upgrade involving 28km of piping.

And the incident yesterday morning (Tuesday, February 6) at the junction of Wonastow Road, Drybridge Street and Rockfield Road added to the frustrations of drivers and other residents.

Despite the ongoing major disruption caused by the water upgrade, including this week at the back of Home Bargains as well, the works beside Bridges are part of a Monmouthshire Council project to convert the current mini-roundabout into a three-way junction as a ‘crucial’ part of a new active travel scheme, linking Williams Field Lane to Monmouth town centre via Monnow Bridge.

Monmouthshire County Council’s Mark Hand, Head of Placemaking, Regeneration, Highways and Flooding has claimed in an email seen by The Beacon that “colleagues checked the coordination of these works with known road works including Welsh Water’s works and are happy they can co-exist without causing undue disruption”.

But further along Rockfield Road, the problem is further exacerbated this week by National Grid work to replace the substation at the junction of Rolls Avenue and Rockfield Road, with three-way traffic lights also in operation there.

Traders predicted traffic chaos beforehand, and there have been long queues this week, compounded by the burst water main, which was finally brought under control later in the day.

Work has been suspended today on the MCC project, and the temporary traffic lights withdrawn, and it isn’t known when they will restart.

But further inconvenience has been the loss of car parking spaces at the free car park on Rockfield Road for the 12 weeks that MCC say the Wonastow/ Rockfield Road works will take to complete.