Roadworks delay arrival of visitors (From Western Telegraph)

Roadworks delay arrival of visitors

Local tourism businesses are losing patience with the delays inflicted on their visitors by road-works in Carmarthenshire.

The construction of a new fly-over on a stretch of the A40 next to the Travellers' Rest, near Carmarthen, is causing delays for people going to and from Pembrokeshire.

Mr Tim Arthur, who runs a self-catering business in Pembrokeshire, said: 'This goes beyond lack of consideration - it is actually serious incompetence which should not be allowed to continue.'

He added: 'One of the worst cases was a couple who came here for the weekend with four children and one grandparent. They reached Carmarthen at 7 pm and didnt get to Pembrokeshire until 10 pm. Some of them were in tears by the time they arrived and they were already worrying about how they were going to get home.'

Mr Arthurs frustration is shared by several members of the Pembrokeshire tourism community.

Virginia Lort-Phillips, chairperson of the Pembrokeshire Tourism Federation; Peter Heard, chairman of the Preseli Tourist Association and Roger Barrett-Evans, Pembrokeshire County Councils director of leisure and development, have all voiced their disapproval of the National Assembly run scheme.

David Stevenson, resident engineer for the site, has defended the traffic flow management. He said: 'Traffic is directed manually on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays when the flow is heaviest, to try and minimise the delay. It was unfortunate that this work coincided with re-surfacing work being carried out by Carmarthenshire County Council.'

Mr Stevenson maintained that work by the county council and the National Assembly had been scheduled as sensitively as possible. He said: 'The fly-over scheme is a year long project. The councils re-surfacing work couldnt be put off for that long and cant be done in the winter months. We made sure that all traffic restrictions were lifted for the Easter bank holiday and have now finished the most disruptive phase, in time for the start of the school holidays.'