'This is our town and the council have made us a laughing stock'

MANY ARE UNHAPPY OVER NEW ORANGE AND YELLOW ROAD MARKINGS IN TOWN CENTRE

- By EDWARD BARNES

Joyce Casey from the Charing Cross Hotel on Grange Road West

(IAIN WATTS)

"IT’S like they have let the nursery kids out and let them paint the street. I hate it when Birkenhead is made a laughing stock because it’s our town and they are making us a laughing stock.

Jane, who used to run a business on Grange Road West is one of many talking about new markings on the road. Orange and yellow has been painted in a bold pattern ahead of new benches and planters being installed to create a temporary one-way street to reduce traffic and improve the Birkenhead area.

However, the new road design has been all over social media, and on the street itself, people described it as a disgrace, a waste of money, legalised vandalism, and a joke. One person even suggested 'the council have lost the plot!'

The plans went out for public feedback several times as part of the wider regeneration works in Birkenhead and were approved by councillors in 2023. The plan was to transform the street from narrow, cluttered footways and a car dominated environment to a more pleasant place to shop and visit.

The road is still very much unfinished, but the ECHO found many are unhappy with the way things have gone so far. Several businesses on the road even said they had been in favour of full pedestrianisation but the council opted to go for a one-way system instead.

Eddie Casey, who runs the Charing Cross Hotel with his wife Joyce, said: "I haven't got a clue. This has been going on for 18 months now with the roadworks and they just keep digging holes everywhere and don’t know what they are doing."

Having lost about 30 per cent of trade in the last year, he said: "A lot of people are suffering because of the roadworks. Hopefully when it’s all done, it will work out."