DERBY'S vital London Road Bridge will be closed four months longer than necessary because of delays caused by telecoms giant BT, the city's deputy leader claims.
Councillor Ranjit Banwait has accused BT of dragging its feet over work to divert its cables from the bridge, which is being demolished and replaced.
Mr Banwait says the scheme was due to be completed by August next year, but because of delays caused by BT, the route will be shut until Christmas 2014, leading to four months of extra traffic woes for the city.
Mr Banwait has written to BT chief executive Ian Livingston, over the issue, pointing out that the bridge closure is "economically sensitive" and needs to be kept as short as possible.
He said: "People at a bureaucratic level aren't taking into account how this is affecting Derby."
Work on the bridge is scheduled to start in August.
Ray Wheatley, director of GB Willbond Ltd bathroom centre in London Road, said "12 months was too long but 16 would be ridiculous".
He said: "I'm sure all the other businesses on the road would say the same.
When the bridge is closed, through-traffic will be diverted along the inner ring road and through Pride Park to the Ascot Drive roundabout.
Mr Wheatley added: "The impact on our businesses could be massive. Our day-to-day trade is with plumbers who won't want to travel through Pride Park to get to us, as it's snarled up as it is."
The council says the work must be done because the condition of the bridge – which runs over the Birmingham to Derby railway line – has deteriorated to the point that it has a weight restriction on it.
The council says BT originally planned to finish its work on the bridge by November this year, but now says it can not be completed until April 2014.
BT has said that "due to a number of changes to the design of the scheme required by Network Rail" its design and completion date estimate was only finalised on April 23.
It said its plans were designed to "ensure the shortest possible time scales".
Mr Banwait added: "I hope that the chief executive will take time out of his busy week to see what we have to say.
"BT is a business, so surely it's in their interests to listen to what the people are Derby are saying because many will be their own customers or potential customers."
A council spokesman said: "We have to close the line while the bridge is demolished for obvious safety reasons. These closures are expensive and only allowed at certain times."
He said the new delay announced by BT means the council will miss the chance to take the bridge down when the line can be closed at Christmas. It will not be able to demolish the bridge until the next rail closure over Easter in 2014.
He added: "This delay for the demolition of the existing bridge, even with reprogramming as much other work as is possible, gives us a four-month delay for the project as a whole.
"It's this extra four months of disruption to residents and businesses which is not in the best interests of the city."
London Road will be shut between Bateman Street and the entrance to the Rail Technical Centre.
A BT spokesman said: "We appreciate the economic sensitivity of the scheme and we are of course keen to work collaboratively to agree an acceptable plan for completion of our work.
"Any diversionary works of this nature are planned and managed by a dedicated team of experienced planning engineers in accordance with the New Roads and Streetworks Act 1991 Code of Practice.
"Our scheme has been planned to ensure the shortest possible time scales and our works are scheduled to be completed by early April 2014 although Openreach will strive to better these time scales."
The Government is paying £4.4 million to help the city meet the scheme's costs of almost £7 million.
