RESIDENTS were left steaming after rail chiefs tried to explain why some of Winchester’s busiest routes will shut for weeks — bringing severe traffic disruption.

Network Rail called the meeting ahead of the three-month closure of the Andover Road bridge in April.

However, residents upset about the current closure of St Cross Road also came along to derail proceedings at Newburgh House in Winchester.

Charles Varey, Network Rail commercial scheme sponsor, told the meeting it was replacing or enlarging 50 bridges and tunnels between Southampton and the Midlands to cope with larger cargo containers.

In Winchester, the Andover Road bridge will be rebuilt at a cost of £3.1m, and motorists will be unable to use it from April 12 to July 12.

The Stoke Charity Road bridge north of the city will close from April 6 to July 30, costing £1.4m.

Work on the tunnel beneath St Cross Road has already begun, which will cost £4m and last until the end of March.

Rail passengers were also warned to expect disruption during the Bank Holiday in May.

He said: “We appreciate this will cause disruption, we would rather not do this work, and it will cost us a lot of money.”

His colleague, Natasha Luddington, said: “We don’t like disturbing the residents of Winchester and we’ll do our best to speed things along.”

Yet Network Rail’s explanations hit the buffers with many of the 60 residents at the meeting on Tuesday.

They included Pieter Lette, of Vears Lane, Colden Common, who said the St Cross Road closure meant it was taking some pupils up to two hours to reach school.

He said: “I can’t understand why these works couldn’t have been done after the new park and ride is built.

“I can’t see any reason why that couldn’t have happened.”

He added: “The chaos that has resulted from your works at the end of St Cross Road is unacceptable.”

Sarah Taylor, of Owens Road, Fulflood, raised concerns about the looming closure of Andover Road.

“I suspect if people can’t get down Bereweeke Road they will go down Brassey Road and Owens Road, and I think it will be an accident waiting to happen,”

she said.

Other concerns included the new Andover Road bridge looking ugly and a lack of consultation and notice before the closure.

Network Rail said residents were welcome to contact it about the project. It can be reached at crsouth@ networkrail.co.uk or on 08457 114141.

What do you think? Necessary work or too much disruption for residents and businesses? Leave your comments below.