Rogue BT line blamed for one-way delay

Following a wave of anger over the announcement that Welshpool’s town centre road system will take a further six weeks to finish, Powys County Council has revealed more details.

To date, only Welshpool Town Council has provided any updates, and last week’s delay bombshell did not go down well to say the least.

And now it has been revealed that the delay is down to the discovery of unrecorded BT fibre optic cables at the bottom end of Brook Street.

The changes to the traffic system are part of a project being carried out by the North and Mid Wales Trunk Road Agency on behalf of the Welsh Government, who are responsible for any decisions and changes to the project.

Alun Griffiths Ltd are the contractors completing the project while the agency has engaged Powys County Council to manage the contract on their behalf. 

Adrian Jervis, the council’s Head of Highways, Transport & Recycling, said: “A BT line has been discovered by the contractor some distance from a location shown on utility plans in Brook Street and at a shallow depth requiring immediate action. 

“Work to lower the line ducting may take approximately five weeks to complete. Work in all other areas of the town should be completed this week, meaning the main town centre area will be free of roadworks. 

“However, the switch-over to the new traffic system is reliant on the completion of the Brook Street work and therefore that this may be delayed for approximately six weeks.”