Residents baffled after council can 'only afford' to repair half the road - leaving most full of potholes
- 2 months ago
Residents are baffled after the council could 'only afford' to repair a stretch of their pothole-filled road - leaving most of it full of holes.
Last week workers visited Caernarvon Road in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, after weeks of complaints from residents over the state of the road.
But they only filled in huge potholes on a small stretch - around 160m - leaving the remaining bit of around 800m filled with potholes, up to 50cm in size.
Residents claim the council told they they only had enough cash in the kitty to fill in the tiny stretch.
And a council spokesperson confirmed they were making the "best use of our planned resources" and the rest would be done in the "next financial year".
Now residents living on the pothole end of the street fear it will reduce the value of their homes - while others claim they've been forced to give up cycling.
Helen Taylor a maths tutor lives in the badly paved section of the road.
She says the council are "fairly random" in how they fill the potholes in, pointing to the fact that the roads around Morrisons had be repaved.
She added: "We were told it couldn’t be resurfaced because of cost".
She added: “I stopped cycling because it was too dangerous. I don’t know if it’s a puddle or a pothole.”
But Norman Freeman, 82, a retired BT engineer lives on the stretch of road that is still not smooth.
He added: "They don’t fill in the holes properly. They just chuck some tarmac in and within a week it’s open again.
“They’ve been here 40 times in the last six months. They filled it in yesterday.
“They are not specialists. I could do a better job myself.
“It’s getting worse every day. I pay £2,000 council tax a year and I have to pay to sweep my own road.
“It’s absolutely ridiculous. I have been living here for 55 years. I have never seen such a mess."
Bus driver Angus Morton, 75, claimed repair workers take “two, three, four hours to do about four holes.”
Last year he said he complained to Gloucestershire County Council about a crew that came in and “filled two potholes and parked up for 50 minutes".
Ingrid Harris, 61, said the weather nullifies the work that has taken place.
She said: "The stuff was going out as quickly as it was going in.”
Kim Evans, 54, said she is worried about the impact the potholes will have on the value of her house.
“People drive down here because there’s two schools, so it is an area that is sought after," she said.
But the teaching assistant said she’s had to take a different route to school to avoid the potholes.
The stretch of Caernarvon Road from the junctions with Salisbury Avenue to Hulbert Crescent was filled in - around 160m.
But the bumps run on Caernarvon Road from the junctions of Salisbury Avenue to Alma Road - around 800m.
A spokesperson for Gloucestershire County Council said: “It’s good news that our crews have recently resurfaced part of Caernavon Road as part of our further £100 million highways investment. This road was identified last year and added to our resurfacing schedule.
“We’ve been keeping an eye on Caernarvon Road between Broad Oak Way and Alma Road and noticed the deterioration over this winter. Making the best use of our planned resources means we weren’t able to change the programme at the last minute and extend the section of Caernarvon Road at this time.
“However, we’re pleased to announce that Caernarvon Road between Broad Oak Way and Alma Road is in the programme to be resurfaced in the next financial year. In the meantime we’ll continue to visit Caernarvon Road to ensure it remains safe for all road users.”
Last week workers visited Caernarvon Road in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, after weeks of complaints from residents over the state of the road.
But they only filled in huge potholes on a small stretch - around 160m - leaving the remaining bit of around 800m filled with potholes, up to 50cm in size.
Residents claim the council told they they only had enough cash in the kitty to fill in the tiny stretch.
And a council spokesperson confirmed they were making the "best use of our planned resources" and the rest would be done in the "next financial year".
Now residents living on the pothole end of the street fear it will reduce the value of their homes - while others claim they've been forced to give up cycling.
Helen Taylor a maths tutor lives in the badly paved section of the road.
She says the council are "fairly random" in how they fill the potholes in, pointing to the fact that the roads around Morrisons had be repaved.
She added: "We were told it couldn’t be resurfaced because of cost".
She added: “I stopped cycling because it was too dangerous. I don’t know if it’s a puddle or a pothole.”
But Norman Freeman, 82, a retired BT engineer lives on the stretch of road that is still not smooth.
He added: "They don’t fill in the holes properly. They just chuck some tarmac in and within a week it’s open again.
“They’ve been here 40 times in the last six months. They filled it in yesterday.
“They are not specialists. I could do a better job myself.
“It’s getting worse every day. I pay £2,000 council tax a year and I have to pay to sweep my own road.
“It’s absolutely ridiculous. I have been living here for 55 years. I have never seen such a mess."
Bus driver Angus Morton, 75, claimed repair workers take “two, three, four hours to do about four holes.”
Last year he said he complained to Gloucestershire County Council about a crew that came in and “filled two potholes and parked up for 50 minutes".
Ingrid Harris, 61, said the weather nullifies the work that has taken place.
She said: "The stuff was going out as quickly as it was going in.”
Kim Evans, 54, said she is worried about the impact the potholes will have on the value of her house.
“People drive down here because there’s two schools, so it is an area that is sought after," she said.
But the teaching assistant said she’s had to take a different route to school to avoid the potholes.
The stretch of Caernarvon Road from the junctions with Salisbury Avenue to Hulbert Crescent was filled in - around 160m.
But the bumps run on Caernarvon Road from the junctions of Salisbury Avenue to Alma Road - around 800m.
A spokesperson for Gloucestershire County Council said: “It’s good news that our crews have recently resurfaced part of Caernavon Road as part of our further £100 million highways investment. This road was identified last year and added to our resurfacing schedule.
“We’ve been keeping an eye on Caernarvon Road between Broad Oak Way and Alma Road and noticed the deterioration over this winter. Making the best use of our planned resources means we weren’t able to change the programme at the last minute and extend the section of Caernarvon Road at this time.
“However, we’re pleased to announce that Caernarvon Road between Broad Oak Way and Alma Road is in the programme to be resurfaced in the next financial year. In the meantime we’ll continue to visit Caernarvon Road to ensure it remains safe for all road users.”