Dundee City Council have said they are considering ways to improve traffic flow after a lane closure caused severe congestion on the Tay Road Bridge.
It comes after frustrated commuters claimed more could be done to reduce the impact of the closure of one lane at the exit of the bridge, which merges onto River Esplanade.
The inside lane of the road is closed until the new year due to construction work at the V&A.
One motorist, Gillian Stirton, who regularly commutes to Invergowrie from Fife, says she and many other Tay Road Bridge users she has spoken to feel that drivers are being unnecessarily held up at traffic lights after coming off the bridge.
She claims that almost every time the bridge exit lights turned to green, the Slessor Gardens exit light turned to red, with not a single vehicle emerging from the gardens in the 15 minutes that she waited to pass through.
The council have said they are “making every effort” to ensure that delays are minimised and are “investigating the potential to adjust traffic signal timings” in order to ease the vehicle flow.
Invergowrie resident Gillian, who has contacted the council directly about her concerns, said: “I am aware that there are regulatory limitations on what can be done in relation to safety at street-works but – especially in relation to the Slessor Gardens lights – it does not appear that all reasonable options have been explored for minimising the disruption and delays.
“I’m fortunate in that my journey to Dundee does not coincide with the real peak of morning traffic but I know from colleagues and friends how frustrated and angry they are at the poor arrangements for maintaining traffic flow, and I assume this is true of the hundreds / thousands of other inbound commuters.
“It’s wasteful of time and fuel, and engenders negative views of the waterfront works and the planning around them, so should be a priority for those who have oversight of the works.
“It has been quite frustrating for the first few days so my main concern is, does it have to be this bad for the full time the road will be closed?”
A Dundee City Council spokesman said: “The city council closely monitors the ongoing situation at the Tay Road Bridge, and the wider city centre road network through the urban traffic control centre where traffic signal sequences are co-ordinated.
“We are making every effort to ensure that delays are minimised as much as possible during this period where essential works are being carried out on V&A Museum of Design Dundee.
“The council will also respond directly to the correspondent about the points that have been raised and we will investigate the potential to adjust traffic signal timings in order to ease vehicle flow.”
The council asked drivers and cyclists for their patience during the closure and advised them to keep up-to-date with the works through their website and social media.
The problems come shortly before many more City Centre side streets are shut off for two weeks, starting on Monday April 10.
