Innes Ward Community Board member and council candidate Ali Jones is frustrated after a St Albans street was lined with road cones, despite no workers, no warning, and no sign of any roadworks.

Cones have been placed along both sides of Courtenay Street, frustrating some residents who rely on the limited parking.

“I didn’t say anything yesterday because I thought they might be working today, but no. This doesn’t make sense to me,” Jones said.

She said the situation highlights the need for better planning and accountability.

“One of the issues here is that the cones are there over the weekend and the work won’t start again till Monday morning.

“What I don’t understand is why those cones can’t be removed or piled up on a Friday evening and put out again on a Sunday evening, giving residents access to the parking, and space for cyclists and everyone who uses that very narrow road.”

Jones said the situation has also created hazards.

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“I saw some metal signs earlier this morning folded up on the road to one side. But it’s a very narrow street, and that’s dangerous.

“Then later, someone had picked them up and moved them onto the pavement, again, blocking the footpath. It’s far from ideal.”

She said the ongoing disruption is completely avoidable.

“It’s a narrow street. It’s very well used. We really need to look at our traffic management and how we can adjust it over the weekend, especially when there is no work happening.”

Jones also questioned whether the cones are even related to official roadworks.

“It looks like a private housing development. The traffic management plans for the new builds down Courtenay require them to have truck access, space for tradies to park, that sort of thing.

It’s certainly down the end by Courtenay Reserve and up the other end around Trafalgar Street at the northern end.”

“But you know, these days, who the hell would know? Because sometimes it is roadworks, and it’s nowhere on the website anyway.”

Jones said the confusion, lack of transparency, and poor weekend planning is not good enough, and she wants clear answers from those responsible.

A council spokeswoman referred all questions to the power company Connectics.

According to the council’s website, “footpath and lane closures will be in place while a new power connection is supplied to a building site. On-street parking on both sides of the road will be unavailable for the duration of the works,” which are scheduled to finish by July 21.

When asked why road cones were still blocking Courtenay Street over the weekend, despite no workers on site, the council once again referred all questions back to Connectics.

Innes Ward Community Board member Ali JonesIt comes after a separate incident where the council delayed planned footpath repairs on Rutland Street, following criticism from local businesses who said they were never informed.

Last Monday, Rutland Street shop owners who arrived at work to find road cones and no parking signs blocking their customer car parking warning.

Businesses said they were left in the dark about the planned works, with no prior communication from the council or the contractor.

On Tuesday, Head of Transport and Waste Management Lynette Ellis said the council had investigated the matter.

“Unfortunately, in this instance the contractor did not follow agreed processes and the local businesses had not been informed of the works,” Ellis said.

She said the works, which involve minor footpath repairs were expected to take only a few days.

“They have delayed the works and will re-programme them.

“They will also ensure that they engage with the businesses. We will work with our contractor to understand what has happened and ensure that lessons learnt are applied moving forward.”