Astonishment as road is closed to repair potholes but three are untouched
TWO OF FIVE HOLES AT STRETTON JUNCTION ARE FIXED - COUNCIL SAYS CREW MOVED TO HIGHER PRIORITY ESSENTIAL REPAIRS ELSEWHERE
MOTORISTS were left “astonished” when council workers closed off part of a busy road to fix potholes – only to leave three completely untouched.
Bob North, from Stretton, says Staffordshire County Council put up warning signs, barriers and temporary traffic lights near five “nasty” potholes at the junction of Main Street and Hillfield Lane, Stretton, last week.
He said that the potholes had been there for months – and questioned why only two were fixed when taxpayers’ money had been spent fencing them off.
Mr North said: “In the centre of Stretton last week were temporary four-way road works traffic lights at the junction of Main Street and [Hillfield Lane], next to the church.
“For months at the junction on Hillside, there were five nasty, deep potholes.
“The stone hardcore base layer in places could be seen.
“It must have been expensive last week to put up the temporary lights, warning signs and barriers.
“But locals are astonished – the council has finished and left the site, but only repaired two potholes and left three large ones untouched.
“It makes obvious sense after all the setup expense with the signs to repair all five.”
Cabinet member for highways and transport at Staffordshire County Council David Williams said: “We know that potholes are a concern to people and our highways crews make every effort to fix them as soon as possible.
“We do have a huge road network here in Staffordshire, with around 6,000km of roads and last year our crews fixed around 30,000 potholes.
“This year we are investing over £18 million on pothole prevention treatments, repairs and resurfacing schemes as well as a further £2M on maintaining and repairing gullies and drains.
“We do prioritise essential repairs and want to move from one to the other as quickly as possible, so our inspector looked at the lesser holes and agreed that though unsightly they didn’t pose a safety risk and released the crew to carry out essential repairs elsewhere.
“All reported road defects are inspected as soon as possible and assessed for their severity.
“Any defect which poses an immediate risk is dealt with as a priority, and we aim to repair dangerous potholes within seven days.
“Lesser priority repairs are carried out when resources are available.”