Locals baffled after council can only repair half of pothole riddled road
Locals in a UK town are scratching their heads after the council claimed they could 'only afford' to repair part of their road, leaving the rest riddled with potholes.
After weeks of complaints about the poor state of the road in Caernarvon Road, Cheltenham, workers came and fixed a short stretch of about 160m, ignoring the remaining 800m of road which still has holes up to 50cm big. In response, a council spokesperson said they were doing their best with the resources available and would fix the rest "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. Maths teacher Helen Taylor, who lives on the bad section of the road, complained the council was "fairly random" with their road repairs and added: "We were told it couldn't be resurfaced because of cost. I stopped cycling because it was too dangerous. I don't know if it's a puddle or a pothole."
Norman Freeman, 82, a retired BT engineer lives on the stretch of road that is still not smooth. He stated: "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."
Cars have to dodge large potholes in the road (No credit)"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, said that repair workers take "two, three, four hours to do about four holes." Last year he complained to Gloucestershire County Council about a team that came and "filled two potholes and parked up for 50 minutes".
Millions don't need to pay this 'priority' bill for the next two months
Ingrid Harris, 61, believes that the weather nullifies any work done. She explained: "The stuff was going out as quickly as it was going in." Kim Evans, 54, worries about the impact the potholes will have on her house's value. "People drive down here because there's two schools, so it is an area that is sought after," she noted.
Ingrid Harris, a resident on Caernarvon Road (No credit)But the teaching assistant admitted that she's avoided the potholes by taking a different route to school. Caernarvon Road from the junctions with Salisbury Avenue to Hulbert Crescent got fixed - roughly 160m of it. But the troublesome potholes continue to appear all along Caernarvon Road from the junction of Salisbury Avenue to Alma Road - a distance of about 800m.
A Gloucestershire County Council spokesperson 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.
Residents are furious at the council over the potholes (No credit)"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."
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