Cracking up! Drought makes our roads unsafe
HUNDREDS of roads are in need of urgent repairs after developing huge cracks as a result of drought.
Gaps wider than a 50p piece that run for up to 100ft have been torn into tarmac as the soil underneath shrinks due to a lack of moisture.
Other roads have sagged following dry weather, creating dangerous driving conditions for motorists.
The problems are set to worsen as droughts continue, but councils say they cannot afford the multi-million pound cost of repairs. Instead, they plan to appeal to the Department for Transport for extra funding.
Among those looking for cash are four neighbouring counties in the East of England: Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire.
Lincolnshire County Council has identified 150 areas where roads are cracking, including Holbeach, Spalding, Boston and Bourne.
A spokesman said: ‘Working within much-reduced budgets, there is no money specifically available to redress this problem, which is why we are making a direct bid to the Department for Transport.’
Of the cost of repairs, they said: ‘We want to do all we can to make sure the roads are as safe as possible for people to use. It is early days yet and we can’t put a finger on how much is needed or estimate how much
Mind the gap: A crack wider than a 50p piece on a rural road near Peterborough we will get. But if we were given £10million tomorrow, that would not be enough.’
Another applicant, Peterborough City Council, said the problems are worst on rural roads built on peat. It said it needs £6million to fund repair work, such as putting wire mesh beneath roads to help keep them level. ‘It comes down to the fact that the rural fen- land roads are built on peat, which dries out quickly,’ a spokesman said.
‘We have got warning signs up in the affected areas but I would urge residents to take care.’
Cambridgeshire County Council said the worst affected areas were Thorney, Northborough and Newborough.
Thorney resident Melissa Wainwright, 37, said: ‘When I first saw the cracks I thought there must have been an earthquake.
‘They seem to be getting worse and I’m worried that if the cracks become bigger the road will be unsafe to drive on.’
Last year was the driest in East Anglia since the 1920s, and drought was officially declared there in June.
The South East was declared to be in a state of drought last week by the Environment Agency, which said parts of central and south-west England and East Yorkshire were also suffering from a lack of rain.
Lincolnshire received £5.35million in 2004 after requesting funding to fix cracks, but Transport Minister Norman Baker yesterday called for local authorities to ‘deal with’ repairs themselves.
‘We are providing £3billion to councils for road maintenance between 2011 and 2015 and gave an additional £200million last year to repair damage caused by severe weather,’ he said. ‘Over £320million of this has been allocated to councils in Norfolk, Lincolnshire, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. It is for them to decide how to allocate these funds.’