Road chiefs have admitted they don’t know when the controversial closure of one of Ipswich’s busiest roads, which caused travel chaos yesterday, will be lifted.

Spring Road was closed in both directions between Cauldwell Hall Road and St Helen’s Street from 8am yesterday so investigations could begin in to a depression found in the carriageway last week.

Many motorists complained the closure yesterday had caused massive delays in their travel time, particularly as Spring Road is one of the busiest routes into the town centre.

To compound their misery, the temporary three-way traffic lights set up to control the traffic all became stuck on red for a time, leaving frustrated motorists to make their own decisions about whether it was safe to cross the junction.

A road closure heading into town, where Woodbridge Road turns into Argyle Street, added to the problems.

Voicing their frustration at the travel problems, one Ipswich Star reader wrote on our website: “The work has to be done yes, absolutely right, but why not on a Sunday if the workmen needed daylight, or if not, during the night?”

On Twitter, another reader said: “Park and ride 23 mins late to Copdock. Don’t blame the driver. Ridiculous planning closure at rush hour.”

BBC Suffolk presenter, Stephen Foster, added: “This town’s infrastructure cannot cope any longer.”

A sign put up near one of the diversions said the work could take up to two weeks – but last night, a spokesman for Suffolk County Council, said the amount of time that would be needed is still not known.

The council has now confirmed the work being carried out on the junction with Woodbridge Road and Argyle Street is being led by Anglian Water and that it is in a “settling period” which is expected to finish today.

On the work in Spring Road, a council spokesman said: “Our contractors have begun carrying out the excavation into the depression on Spring Road to identify the cause of the defect and are making good progress.

“The investigation is continuing and we’re receiving an update in the next couple of days which will provide firmer information on the defect and the timescales for fixing it.

“The defect in the road needs to be identified before we can begin fixing it – we can’t begin fixing a problem if we don’t know what the problem is.

“This is completely necessary to ensure the public can travel safely on this road in future.”