Potholes will be repaired but ‘not because of selfies’

THE man in charge of Bristol’s roads has reassured residents of Bedminster that the worst bits of a pothole-covered roundabout will be fixed – but would not say when.

Councillor Don Alexander took a potshot at the ‘pothole selfie’ local councillors, who complained last week that the state of the broken road surface of the mini-roundabout junction at the end of North Street in Bedminster was so bad it was a danger.

The councillors from three different south Bristol wards came together to call for action on the roundabout – something Cllr Alexander did not take kindly to in his response.

The Green councillors from Southville, Bedminster and Windmill Hill wards said they and local residents had been reporting the state of the mini roundabout outside the Steam Crane pub at the junction of North Street, Dean Lane and Cannon Street for more than a year.

Although the worst of the pitted and broken road surface has been sprayed with pink paint, the councillors have been told there are worse roads in Bristol that are going to be fixed first.

Cllr Alexander said the council was fixing potholes, but could not do them all at the same time, and they did not get fixed just because the local councillors had their pictures taken with them.

“As the Green Party councillors point out, the number of potholes in Bristol is down by 60 per cent since 2016,” said Cllr Alexander (Lab, Avonmouth).

“We’re making good progress across the city but, unfortunately, the council doesn’t have the capacity to address all remaining potholes simultaneously, so we have to prioritise repairs based on a matrix which takes a number of factors into account, such as the size of the pothole and risk of injury.

“As the red markings on the roundabout indicate, officers have already visited the site. They will be fixing two points on the junction that cause special concern.”

He added: “The councillors would have been welcome to raise this with me in a more conventional manner, such as through an email, before posing there.

“We’ve reduced the number of potholes across Bristol by over half and will continue to address the remaining ones based on the risk they pose.

“But, as I stated, the priority list for pothole repairs is based on tangible factors – rather than whether a councillor has taken a selfie with it or not.”