Six months after work was started to improve the safety of a busy junction at Collectors Hill and South Shore Road in Smith?s the project remains incomplete and the area is as unsafe as ever, according to a concerned Opposition MP.

Jon Brunson, Shadow Works and Engineering Minister, is calling for an explanation as to why the project that was given a high profile when it was announced in January by Works and Engineering Minister David Burch has still not been finished.

The junction is a notorious accident spot and was re-shaped in January and February in preparation for the installation of traffic lights and resurfacing work.

However, final agreement on the usage of land behind the Collectors Hill Apothecary to create a new one-way system has not yet been settled.

Mr. Brunson said: ?The project has been going for six months to eliminate this unsafe intersection. They have added sidewalks but it is still unsafe.

?I know there are other works to be done but, if they were going to do this project, I would have thought they would have had all their ducks in a row first,? he added, in reference to the delay on associated land agreements off AP Owen Road.

?The quality of the road surface is unsafe for bikes, cars and cyclists. How long is it going to take the Minister or someone to get this project moving forward??

And he also believes there are flaws in the way the junction has been redesigned. Mr. Brunson feels it would have been better to create filter lanes for cars making right-hand turns rather than have them form traffic lines behind with the potential to create a grid-lock situation.

?Road safety is critical,? he said. ?But I do not think this plan is the best. For one thing it does not provide for turning lanes. If a car is turning right it stops the traffic behind. What needs to be done is to look at how to maximise traffic flow and minimise congestion ? the plan does not do that.?

Mr. Brunson added: ?This is typical of the Government being off-time and off-budget. It has dragged on and public safety is at risk.?

He said the near three-year closure of nearby Devon Spring Road was another example of a project that had stalled. That road has been closed because of safety fears about a collapsing wall.

Of the delay in the Collectors Hill project, he said: ?It was like they started that project like it was an emergency and then they stopped. It seems like posturing. They seem to be doing something and then they let it die.?

In a statement at the beginning of June, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Works and Engineering said: ?It is anticipated the Ministry?s highway crews will soon begin the process of resurfacing the South Shore Road/Collectors Hill junction shortly. It is also anticipated that traffic sensors and lights will be placed in the area shortly.?

In 1987 there were 37 collisions at the Collectors Hill junction and one every 28 days in 1988 and 1989, one every 30 days in 1990 and one every 19 days in 1991.