Council bosses are now looking at whether all of Burton Bridge in the town will need to be closed during vital repair work which could be pushed back to the summer - if that is what people want.
Highways bosses are currently considering if they can keep some of the four lanes open during the work. It is part of the £6.1 million programme of repairs, which has seen St Peter's Bridge closed since Tuesday, August 29.
The bridge is not due to be opened until the end of November and has caused major problems for motorists, as well as traders as shoppers have been staying away from the town.
Burton Bridge and St Peter's Bridge are the two main routes in and out of town over the River Trent. Highways bosses at Staffordshire County Council are mindful of how many problems the complete closure of St Peter's Bridge has caused.
There has been a huge amount of complaints and the council want to do all they can to off set disruption during the second phase of the work, which is set to take place in the summer. Detailed work on what the repairs, set to include structural repairs to Burton Bridge, will entail are about to begin.
They are expected to take two months to complete. It is due to start in January, but is set to be put back to the summer - if that is what Burton people want, says the council.
It comes as an email address has been set up by the council to allow members of the public to have their say over when the closure of Burton Brridge should begin and their views on things like lane closures.
Following pleas from traders, the closure could be delayed until the summer. It had initially been due to start once the St Peter's Bridge work to replace rusted bearings was finished.
It is felt the summer date would allow businesses to recover from a potentially difficult Christmas. The closure has led to an increase in traffic which has been putting shoppers off from visiting Burton, leading to a downturn in profits for the town's firms.
However, some readers have been claiming on social media that traffic in the town is not as bad thought and is now settling down.
All those affected by the bridge repairs are being urged to take part in the public consultation exercise by contacting the county council with their preference over the Burton Bridge work, including keeping some lanes open, and when they should begin.
The county council successfully secured funding from the Government to improve the two bridges, but due to the impact of the St Peters Bridge closure on traders, the council has now asked that the works to Burton Bridge move to next summer. But it wants to know townsfolk think before making a final decision on a start date.
One of the conditions of the funding was that the scheme was completed during this financial year. But due to the backlash from businesses, the county council has won permission from the Department for Transport to postpone the improvements - if that is what the people and businesses want.
Burton MP Andrew Griffiths who helped secure the cash for the bridges' scheme, called the possible delay a "victory for commuters and common sense". He had previously admitted that the impact on firms has been tough.
He said: "Last week I urged Staffordshire County Council and The Department for Transport to delay the proposed repair on Burton Bridge, scheduled for January 2018.
"I'm delighted to receive confirmation from the leader of the county council, Councillor Philip Atkins, that the work will now take place in the summer of 2018 if that is what local people and businesses want.
"I'm glad they will listen to local people. A victory for commuters and common sense. The next challenge is to ensure that at least two of the four lanes on Burton Bridge stay open while the work takes place."
The successful Highways Challenge Fund bid was announced in August and required work to begin immediately on St Peter's Bridge – or risk losing the funding. If the rusted bearing s are not replaced on St Peter's Bridge then a weight restriction, affecting HGVs and buses, would have to be imposed.
The complex nature of the engineering project means the bridge needs to be closed totally for three months, the council has said.
The work on Burton Bridge also has to be done or this routes facing having a weight restriction imposed. There will still be access for cyclists and pedestrians during the project.
How to have your say
Anyone wanting to have their say on whether the work planned for Burton Bridge should take place in the New Year or summer and their suggestions over lane closures by emailing burtonbridges@staffordshire.gov.uk
Readers have their say as Burton traders vent anger over the bridge closure:
Themanfromb44: "The work has had a knock-on effect further along the A444 at Stanton. I visited a delightful cafe that's suffering immensely too."
Electricknight: "Regardless of all the problems caused by the St Peter's Bridge closure, there are a couple of questions I would be asking of Staffordshire County Council Highways."
" The first is how has a major construction project such as this gateway to Burton been constructed with a short lifespan for a "modern" building scheme? The second is will the bridge have a similar lifespan after this work and if so what can be done to upgrade the structure to give it a longer life. Burton Bridge, built in the late 1800's I believe, has as far as I can remember has never been threatened with closure due to structural defects."
MalcolmPowder: "It's funny how no-one has ever successfully completed a project of this type on time and to everyone's satisfaction isn't it? People just love to whinge."
Raggy2121: "Plan better yourselves and avoid the peak travel."
Rhurst45: "Reference St Peter's Bridge work being carried out on a 24-hour basis, I have not seen this happen. Everyone is facing long tail backs. When trying to get home myself I take my granddaughter to work at B&Q and it takes me half an hour to get her there. At night time when she finishes we travelled via the arboretum route through Catton Park and Rosliston on to Linton, Swadlincote, then Newhall. I am doing extra miles and using more fuel."
Benegoat: "The people of Burton and South Derbyshire have been completely let down by an authority that continually fails to deliver. The Barton-Walton junction took over a year to resolve even with national publicity and there is still a bit in the middle which is not complete and will be done later, which must be a more expensive way to do the work. Potholes take far too long to repair."
Daniel Mears: "I rarely go into Burton now days. Bridge closure or not it's always been a bottle neck and I don't think it has much to offer. Swadlincote or Ashby nowadays or straight to Derby; more choice and Swadlincote even has few parking in many places."
The history of St Peter's Bridge and crossing the River Trent
Lee Greatorex: "The council should offer free two to three hours parking between 10am and 3pm in all areas to offer at least some incentive to tempt customers back outside of the busiest times."
Michael Blower: "This is the opposite to what I saw at the weekend, the amount of cars parked in the car parks I saw were packed with cars and plenty of people walking around, doing their shopping, apart from the traffic queues, town seemed normal."
Rachael Friel: "I work in town have noticed a big decrease in shoppers it has had a noticeable knock-on on profits which some small businesses cannot absorb."
Kerry Hufton: "Traffic has eased massively so people must be finding alternative travel arrangements into the town."
