And it still is.

The A6102 Middlewood Road was closed when a 50-foot stretch of it partially collapsed into the River Don below during the height of last summer's flooding.

Now, 12 months later, the road is still blocked and barricaded and won't be re-opened until at least Christmas.

An early-morning walk along the 400-yard closed section on the anniversary of the Great Flood is accompanied by the calls of greenfinches, kingfishers and wrens rather than the drone of the first commuters of the day

No grinding and grating of trucks and buses, just the gentle rush of the River Don below.

But the wildlife haven that the deserted stretch has become has made life hell for others.

The traffic has to go somewhere and residential streets in Oughtibridge, Worral, Wisewood and Loxley are taking the strain – and it shows.

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Roads like Coward Road and Birks Wood Drive in Oughtibridge, built for light residential traffic, are crumbling after a 12-month pounding by freight and commuters.

Haggstones Road and Church Street in the village are packed at peak times and other areas are suffering their own nightmares on routes in from the north of the city.

The corner of Birks Wood Drive and Haggstones Road takes much of the brunt of the enforced traffic flow as cars cut through up the hill to by-pass the closed section of the A6102.

One couple who have lived in that spot for 38 years have had enough.

"Between eight and nine in the morning they are queuing right down the road here," said the wife of a retired printer who didn't want to be named.

"We are getting the worst of the traffic here and we don't even have a car! Getting across the road is almost impossible, especially for the children going to school. The motorists are so inconsiderate, the kids have to wait for ages to cross.

"We can't have the windows open at tea time. The fumes are terrible when it gets busy – you can taste it in your throat. We can't have a bedroom window open at night either because the noise of the traffic starts at 5.30am and wakes us up.

"People who live down here are complaining about the extra cars but they would cut through themselves if they thought it would save a few minutes. They drive past and we are stuck with it, I've had rows with one or two of them.

"We have accepted it now – it's just one of those things. I just wish they would get the road fixed. If it had been in wartime it would have been done in a week."

Outside The Cock Inn on Bridge Hill four wise men sit over fresh pints in the afternoon sun.

They echo a common gripe: "If it had been on the south-west side of the city it would have been done a long time ago."

The beer they are supping isn't the only bitter taste around the table. Forthright and scathing, the voice of the village is clear.
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