Roadworks are causing traffic misery for drivers in Hazlemere at weekends – with the “chaos” set to continue for another 11 weeks. 

Drivers reported journey times of an hour to reach Hazlemere from Wycombe due to major roadworks being carried out by Scottish and Southern Energy at Hazlemere crossroads.

It is part of a £100,000 project to install a new underground electricity cable, which follows a route along Holmer Green Road, Amersham Road, Green Street and Penn Road.

The roads remain open during the work, with four-way traffic lights in place on Saturdays and Sundays.

However the traffic lights meant drivers were stuck for up to half an hour on Saturday through the lights, with queues tailing back towards High Wycombe and roads within Hazlemere gridlocked.

Niroshan Bala, who works in McColls newsagents on Market Parade, Holmer Green Road, said less people were visiting the shops at the crossroads because of the backlog of traffic.

He said: “The traffic was very bad at the weekend and it affected the number of people who came in here. Sundays are usually quieter for us anyway but there were much less people coming in on Saturday. The traffic was backed up all the way down the road, it was very chaotic.”

Marianne Gautier from Stephen James Hunt Carpets, also on Market Parade, said that part of Hazlemere was like a “ghost town” due to lack of visitors.

She said: “It was complete chaos. This part of the road was like a ghost town, there were just no people coming in – it was just really weird.

“We had hardly any customers and people obviously aren’t going to bother coming in here at the weekends until the roadworks are done.

“There were queues everywhere and there were a few car horns beeping. It was a nightmare.”

A spokesman for SSE said they would actively work to increase staffing and add more signs letting people know the shops are open.

They said: “Southern Electric Power Distribution has been working with the local authority’s Highways Department to ensure our essential upgrade work causes the least disruption possible. This includes having manually-controlled 4-way traffic lights in place to help ease the flow of traffic on Saturdays and Sundays.

“Further to the concerns that have been brought to our attention, we have taken the decision to double our traffic management staffing at weekends and will produce signs to notify motorists that businesses are open as usual, both of which will be in place by the coming weekend.

“We would like to apologise for any inconvenience and assure the local community that we will complete this work as quickly and safely as possible.”