COUNCILS ON FLOOD ALERT AT HOTSPOTS
Key roads left underwater due to the rain
FLOODING ‘hotspots’ are being monitored by council officials after a key Potteries road was left underwater twice in a week.
Motorists were greeted with a submerged Leek New Road, in Stockton Brook, after heavy rain battered the city at the weekend and again on Thursday.
Now Stoke-on-trent City Council has said it will be ‘monitoring’ problematic routes across the area.
It comes after the A53 in Stockton Brook at the junction with Bunts Lane and Nursery Avenue was submerged twice in a five day period.
Two bouts of heavy rain – on Sunday and Thursday – caused issues on various roads around North Staffordshire. Overnight showers at the weekend left key routes including the A53 and the A34 around Talke underwater on Sunday morning.
Thursday’s downpour again saw the A53 hit in Stockton Brook, Endon, and Longsdon - with the latter two being the responsibility of Staffordshire County Council.
The A53 is one of the key routes between the city and the Staffordshire Moorlands.
City council cabinet member Amjid Wazir, below, said: “As the weather has been rapidly changing, we are seeing an increase in surface water flooding on our highways as a lot of the drainage infrastructure we have running in and around the city was not originally designed for the heavy rainfall.
“Our teams visited the site on Thursday morning, and the surface water had drained away. “We are continuing to monitor hotspot areas where flooding occurs and taking appropriate action when needed. “We would ask residents if they spot flooding or any highways issues to please report it.”
Water has also been pouring down Honeysuckle Lane, near Longsdon, and onto the main road. David Williams, cabinet member for highways and transport at Staffordshire County Council, said: “Our gully emptiers are working full-time across the entire highway network maintaining over 180,000 gullies. If there are problems during times of heavy rain we will prioritise those areas where private property is affected or flooding presents a hazard to the road user.”