Road closure causes headache for motorists

Jul 21 2010 by Jeff Holmes, Paisley Daily Express

A BUSTLING Paisley street – which was suddenly closed after complaints of flickering lights in homes and businesses – has re-opened after 72 hours much to the delight of frustrated motorists.

Busy New Street, at the corner of Causeyside Street, closed early on Saturday morning after Scottish Power were alerted to the problem.

They immediately applied for a road closure and an excavation team moved in to dig a trench from pavement to pavement at the traffic lights.

The closure caused many Buddies a headache as they tried to get around town.

New Street, which is the main artery to Causeyside Street, Storie Street and High Street, was closed indefinitely as engineers battled to solve the problem.

Motorists heading for the Paisley Centre car park, in Storie Street, and Paisley university, faced lengthy detours.

Drivers were forced to head up St Mirren Brae, along Smithhills Street and up to the West End of the town before cutting back along Wellmeadow Street and High Street.

Alan Nelson, from Barrhead, works in Paisley and parks in the Paisley Centre car park every day.

He moaned: “I’ve been coming the same way every day for around a year now. The closure really gazumped me because I don’t know the town that well.

“There were diversion signs in place but it seemed to go on forever.

“It just shows you what can happen when one tiny section of a street is closed.”

Another frustrated driver said: “I time my journey to the exact minute every day so I ended up late for work.

“It’s just one of these things though. It’s nobody’s fault and I just had to take it on the chin.

“Maybe I should leave earlier in the morning!”

The road – which was closed for 72 hours – was re-opened in time for drivers heading to work yesterday morning.

A spokeswoman for Scottish Power said: “There was an electrical fault in the area so we tried to catch it before people were cut off completely.

“Our excavation team was sent in and carried out some tests, which showed us where the faults were.

“Those faults were rectified at the weekend and our contractors have now re-instated the street.

“Unfortunately we were unable to put a time limit on the work but it was dealt with as a matter of urgency.”

She added: “We are well aware that New Street is a busy thoroughfare so we attempted to get the work completed as quickly as possible.

“We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused to pedestrians and motorists.”

A spokesperson for Renfrewshire Council said: “Scottish Power requested a road closure on Friday night in order to fix a fault.

“It was an open-ended job so they were unable to say just how long the work would take.”