MONTHS of misery for drivers in Darlington town centre were virtually at an end this week.

Workmen have been putting the finishing touches to extensive roadworks along St Cuthbert's Way. The council says the benefits of the £400,000 scheme are already evident.

Cabinet member for highways and transport Coun Nick Wallis said he understood motorists' frustration as the work had sparked huge traffic queues around the town centre.

But he said: "This scheme will make life better for everyone."

He also attacked opposition councillors for making political capital out of the work. He said some had used the delays as a way of criticising the council's Town on the Move initiative.

"I know this project will win hearts and minds," he said.

On Monday, Coun Wallis conducted a mini-tour of the roadworks area, where work started on February 14.

With just tidying left, he said a key element was the number of pedestrian crossings.

"Previously, this was a fast road and there were quite a lot of accidents," he said.

Coun Wallis said the council faced a dilemma when Transco said it needed four to six weeks to do work on the carriageway.

"We came in for some stick over this," he said. "We could have left it and in the autumn they would have come back, dug everything up and caused more weeks of misery. It seemed sensible to incorporate that work into our scheme."

Everything is now in place for the start of the much-vaunted Pedestrian Heart scheme in a few months' time - to which much of the work was linked.

More buses will come down Stonebridge. From their own lane, they will largely turn left. Fewer buses will use other areas of the town.

"I can understand the frustration of drivers stuck in a queue and not knowing why," said Coun Wallis.

New disruption

MAJOR roadworks start on the A68 West Auckland Road in Darlington on Monday. The entire stretch from the roundabout in Cockerton to the A1(M) will be affected for about eight weeks. Any lane closures will occur between 9.30am and 3.30pm during school holidays and 9.30am and 2.45pm when the schools open.