Road works in Swain’s Lane causing major problems

• THE ongoing road works in Swain’s Lane are having a major impact on people living in the Dartmouth Park area, particularly the elderly and people with disabilities.

Basically we have no bus service: the 88 is stopping at Camden Town, the 214 bus stop at Parliament Hill is closed and the C11 is only going one way.

On Monday the 214 also stopped at Kentish Town (a driver somehow managed to wedge a bus on to the Swain’s Lane roundabout causing yet more chaos).

We rely on buses to get to jobs, see friends, have fun, visit hospitals and see doctors and – crucially – to get to affordable shops in Kentish Town and Archway.

The Swain’s Lane area is a “food desert” anyway: the new parade of shops may be lovely to look at but are too expensive to shop in for many of the locals. (Who needs a deli in an emergency?)

And our Tesco Express is small, has a narrow range of food apart from sandwiches and crisps, and regularly runs out of milk. The shop in Chester Road has a limited supply of fresh food.

The whole Swain’s Lane construction project seems incredibly badly managed and co-ordinated.

Why weren’t these changes carried out when the roundabout was redeveloped a few years ago?

Why is it taking more than two weeks (and counting) to put in two crossings?

Why don’t the contractors shut off half the road at a time to keep some traffic flowing – as they have done in Kentish Town Road in the past?

Why is the 214 not stopping at Parliament Hill when traffic is completely normal down Highgate Road – or was until Monday?

Why was no notice posted about this disruption on the bus stops ahead of the road works?

What is incredibly annoying is the casualness of just shutting down a bus service, not properly telling us beforehand and expecting everyone in the area to accept this massive adjustment.

The lack of buses means some in our community are effectively marooned.

SARAH GILLAM, N6