There's a bright golden haze on the meadow,

And it hides the fact that there are traffic works of war-zone proportions hindering my love of the drive to work, and to be honest the drive home. 

A new housing estate is being built directly across the road from our estate.  Our one road in, one road out estate. Our estate which had traffic lights installed because due to the weight of traffic on the road, it became impossible to turn right out of the estate to go into town.  Everyone had to turn left, quickly, and into the traffic, drive to the top of the road, right left again, down to the roundabout back up the way you came and past the estate entrance.  

It was safer that way. 

The traffic lights were divine.  They turned to green to let us out of the estate.  There were no delays. 

Then the plans went in for the new build after much traffic consultation work - I saw those three men in their yellow jackets, chatting to each other and "counting cars". 

Gone are our Traffic lights - a roundabout has been put in place.  A roundabout in the road which was too busy to let traffic out to the right.   A roundabout which not only has the original busy road, but a new one - for the new houses. 

This traffic work started 7 weeks before Christmas.  It said "work commences here for 6 weeks".  And to be honest, it did.   All worked stopped on Christmas Eve (or there abouts), and the roundabout opened.  No road marking, no lights, no signs, it was very enjoyable. 

As soon as the holidays were over, the road works started again.  All the ingress and egress roads have been dug up to allow relaying of the road, and in the case of our wee estate entrance, moving it forward a bit and widening it a bit. 

To get on to the roundabout, I have to bounce down one ramp.  The lovely labourers have added two little ramps of tar to allow for "ease". Ha.  I then bump up on to the round about itself, traverse the opposite direction, because the correct direction is closed off just now, and bump down another ramp at the other side and up again, to access the road.  

4 Ramps every time I leave my house to go to work.  I'm not even going to discuss the state of the road should I wish to travel to town.   A bit fell off the underneath of Poppy last week. 

The traffic lights are three way.  

There is a turnaround of 5 minutes to each green.   In the mornings, at rush hour, they stand a lovely man at the traffic lights to the estate, because without him to turn them indiscriminately, we would be trapped forever.  I am thinking of nominating him for a Knighthood for Services to the Public.

The first day - the traffic was backed up 27 cars that I could see, with cars trying to file in from two other roads within the estate. 

Yesterday, while coming back from the town, the road was tailed back through two more sets of traffic lights, and half way up a hill; I was expecting someone to come shooting over the hill behind me and hit me straight on. 

When I'm coming home - The traffic can be tailed back to the roundabout at the bottom of the slip road I leave the dual carriage way by.  There is then a b class road, one lane either side for 200 yards, before a slip appears for the right turn - as you can imagine this is what is causing the hold up. 

It's about 200 yards between the end of the road and the traffic lights - it's tailed back to the end of that road every night at least.  People actually try to overtake while approaching the green light, so that they get through first. 
People try and pull out to the right at the top of the road, despite not being able to see past the tail back of traffic.
 
Someone will die. 

And all because someone thought it would be a better idea to have a roundabout (cheaper).