SLOWING down motorists is the aim of safety work being carried out in Ipswich town centre – but it is just one of a host of schemes likely to get drivers hot under the collar this summer.

SLOWING down motorists is the aim of safety work being carried out in Ipswich town centre – but it is just one of a host of schemes likely to get drivers hot under the collar this summer.

The work will see a new curved approach to the roundabout on Franciscan Way to deter motorists from driving straight across into Princes Street without stopping.

The work is being carried out by Ipswich Borough Council on behalf the Suffolk County Council highways agency.

A spokesman for Ipswich Borough Council said: "Safety is the particular concern of this scheme. What has been happening is that motorists have been going too quickly across because they can get into Princes Street without turning.

"We are just making an adjustment to the road so motorists will have to slow their speed."

The current road surface will be landscaped, with work due to be completed by the second week in September.

Yet the work will do little to ease the frustration of motorists and bus travellers who are being confronted by a host of road closures, diversions and traffic lights as a summer of highway mayhem gets into full stride.

A spokesman for the borough council said the timing of much of the work on the roads was planned to coincide with the school holidays. Rush-hour traffic in Ipswich was lighter than normal during school holidays, therefore minimising delays.

He added: "We cannot get rid of the inconvenience of essential work, but we do try to minimise it by undertaking road works in sequence."

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