Drivers were 'fobbed off'

I HAVE no doubt that some will consider the Ironman event in Dorset this Sunday a success but I found its impact on local residents and businesses frustrating, stressful and poorly coordinated on the ground. 

I have heard that some marshals were verbally abused by residents and motorists through sheer frustration, which is regrettable but perhaps entirely understandable. It would appear that some marshals in the Puddletown area were from London and Bristol and had no knowledge of the roads, village names or authorised alternative routes.  

More importantly, they had not been given sight of the maps published by the Ironman organisers which many local road users were trying to use to navigate around the road blocks.  

As a result some drivers were simply fobbed off and directed to the next blocked road, which just added to the confusion and stress.

I was involved with a charity event at Athelhampton house on Sunday which was well publicised and takes place this time of year, with no major problems. Consideration was given to postponing our event to de-conflict with Ironman but there are so many other events on other weekends that it was impractical. We were assured that the route from Puddletown to Athelhampton would be open one-way.  A yellow route was marked on the Iron Man map which should have allowed drivers to drive eastbound from Puddletown to Athelhampton. 

Exhibitors, trade stands, visitors and members of staff were told of this route but, whilst some were allowed through, many were not.  As a result the event was poorly attended by the public and several exhibitors did not arrive, having endured journeys which lasted two hours longer than they should, and simply gave up. Some of these people had travelled from Devon and Southampton. 

Athelhampton House is a historic building which relies on the tourist trade and Sunday is normally one of the busiest days. 

 Sadly, it seems that a major event run by a private organisation can be allowed to disrupt the lives and businesses of ordinary people in Dorset.  
This complaint is not ‘nimbyism’, I just believe that the route involved the closure of too many important roads. 

Sadly, closure or restrictions to adjacent roads, which would have been logical alternative routes for local traffic just added to the problems; a prime example being the restrictions on Coombe Valley Road, Preston Beach Road and Littlemoor Road. If Ironman is permitted to return to Dorset, 
I suggest that the cycle route should be shorter but cyclists should do more laps of the same route. This would make road management easier, should involve fewer marshals and would have less impact on residents elsewhere in the county. 

Perhaps more importantly, many visitors to the county who were not heading towards Ironman could have been allowed to attend other attractions and events in the county without being subjected to delays and gridlock at certain locations.

MARTIN YOUNG 
Address supplied

Organisers were told

WELL, for the entrants to this competition it must have been a lovely day of enjoyable exercise. 

However, for the thousands of people who had to endure the the traffic chaos, it was an absolute disgrace. 

Months ago at a meeting of the Puddletown Area Parish Council, the Ironman representative and the WPBC officer were told in no uncertain terms that  this would cause utter chaos for the hinterland of Weymouth. 

A normal journey of 20 mins from Martinstown to Broadmayne has taken 1 and three-quarter hours. (A round trip of 3 and a quarter hours) Ironman is a worldwide company that charges for these events and also gets sponsorship from companies such as Mercedes, Timex and Arena to name but a few. 

They say that the event puts money into the local economy but this would have only helped the people of Weymouth and not the vast majority of people who have had to put up with this debacle. 
I have witnessed two young female drivers almost come to blows with the stewards at the Trumpet Major traffic island.  

On my way back I was behind an elderly resident of Bockhampton who was petrified to drive his car along the narrow road to his home because of the amount of oncoming traffic desperately trying to find a way to continue their journey. 

Environmentally, the good people of Dorchester try their best by cycling, walking and using the electric buses but today they saw a whole weeks worth of car fumes and wasted energy emitted in a few hours.

This is an absolute disgrace and the council officers responsible should be brought to task. No more next year!

MARTIN USHERWOOD
Martinstown 

Take it to private land

THE road closures for the Ironman event caused chaos on Sunday: There were no diversions only closures. 

Closures were manned by people unable or unwilling to give advice on re-routing leading to confusion and chaos. 

Many people were stuck going round and round in Dorchester for up to two hours unable to find an exit route that was not jammed. 

My 88-year-old mother was one such giving rise to a near panic attack, not to mention the requirement to find toilet facilities.

This is a commercial event of little interest to anyone other than the participants and there is no case to allow road closures that inconvenience thousands of road users to facilitate it.  

The organisers should find private land to hold such an event. 

Please do not allow this shambles to be repeated in Dorset.

Many of the signs were still in place well after the event causing further confusion e.g. a road closed sign on the A35 at the Kingston Maurward roundabout when travelling east at 20:30 hrs on Sunday.

Ill considered, badly organised, please don’t allow this again.

Road closures are useless without diversions.  

These are public funded roads and the organisers should have no right to close them in this manner. Get it off public roads and onto private land or hire a race circuit.

DAVID HILLS
via email

Never again!

IT SHOULD, in the free world, be inconceivable to have experienced the incomparable fracture of road transport communication that was imposed upon Dorset - though the Ironman event this Sunday and endured by the road tax-paying, unconsulted residents of Dorchester and Dorset.

Do not do this again! 

Dominic O’Connor
Crossways

Where were diversions?

TRYING to get out of Dorchester was a nightmare.

Roads were closed with no diversion signage and the helpers by the closure signs didn’t know where to send drivers, most drivers were going round in circles trying to find their way through to their destinations. 

Absolute chaos was the only way to describe it.

GAIL CRITCHELL
Via email

Reimburse charity

SO INFURIATED with the Ironman road closures.

Yellow signs said Littlemoor/Preston Roads would reopen at 2.30pm I tried to get to Osmington for charity concert and was confronted with security men saying would not be open until 6pm.  

Would Ironman organisers like to reimburse the charity for their lost revenue?

Carol Sutton
via email

No one told me about it

I LIVE in Lubbecke Way in Dorchester and I was never informed that Kings Road was going to be closed going south bound for the entire day. It took me over 50 minutes to get back from Lidl due to the traffic trying to get through Fordington. 

At least if we had been informed we would have made other arrangements. 

Emily Simmonds 
Dorchester

Not enough notice given

WHY has anybody allowed anybody to organise a cycle race in the middle of a Sunday afternoon in the summer? 

Why have signs not been in place for weeks and the residents of places, other than Weymouth, been put on notice? 

I am not surprised that others complaining, the east side of Dorchester was total chaos. 

Yes, compensation is should be offered for time, petrol, loss of earnings etc.  

My next letter is to the Police and Crime Commissioner.

The people of Dorset and holidaymakers should have some answers.

On Exmoor the Ironman race notices are up a good month ahead.  

The race should have finished by 9 am at the latest if held at all.  

I hope this is the last time the useless race organisers try anything.

Adrienne McIntosh
by email

Road tax questions

WHO decided to gridlock Dorchester and the surrounding roads and not allow normal traffic to enter or leave without either a massive argument or searching every back road going. 

I pay my car tax for the privilege to drive these roads and don’t expect to be stopped just because of a lot of people on pushbikes who think they have a chance at the Olympics to block off every road in the area. 

Do they pay anything towards the road upkeep? NO!

Who is going to pay for all my extra fuel? I have nothing against bikes in the normal run of things, and if they chose to ride on dangerous roads let them!! But don’t stop the car user. How did they get to the race?  I bet it wasn’t by bike!

I would like to apologise for my language to some of the marshals. It wasn’t their fault but the organisers and the council who did this should have been made to find their way in themselves.

R Minterne
Andover

Trapped in own homes

WOKEN at 6.30 by tannoy telling swimmers to get into the sea. 

Left home at 10am and walked to where we had parked car as we could only get out of our road in a convoy. 

Had to stay away most of the day - decided to return at 5pm.

Queue going nearly back to Dorchester on bypass and back to the Littlemoor turn on the old Dorchester Road. 

Two policeman at roundabout stopping every car and asking where they were going (who was paying the police? Council tax payers?) 

When we eventually got through we were told there may be a hold-up for a convoy at Chalbury Corner. In fact there was no one on the road. 

The marshals were just sat on the grass, no police and no convoy. 

We drove straight through and there was no reason for the massive hold-up at the bypass end of the road. It was just nonsense. 

The competitors I believe paid about £450 to enter.

How much of that went to the community or to charity?

Nothing as far as I know it is a profit making organisation. I can’t believe town businesses made any money as no one could get in or out. 

No thought whatever was given to residents especially in the Preston area. 

There could have been barriers down the middle of the road and the other lane run alternately in each direction managed by traffic lights. 

Then residents could have got in and out of homes for which they pay massive amounts of council tax and road tax. 

If this event is to take place again the whole route needs re-thinking. People who have no interest in it cannot be expected to be trapped in their homes all day.

H McLaughlin
via email