Council says it is winning the war against potholes

by Lisa Reeves

Saturday 24^th August 2013

Sat 24^th Aug 2013

Cheshire East Council has reached its target of repairing 50,000 potholes across Cheshire East this year.

The Council launched its war on potholes in January this year, as part of its 'Tell Dave' campaign, and has pledged to invest £25m over the next two years.

Successive bad winters and under-investment prior to local government reorganisation has resulted in an abnormally high number of defects.

Councillor David Topping, Cabinet member in charge of roads, said: "I am very happy that we have reached our target of filling 50,000 potholes and would like to thank residents for reporting them to us.

"We faced a huge task in improving the roads but I am delighted to say we are achieving our targets and I hope people can see the improvements. We know we still have more work to do and I encourage residents to continue reporting potholes to us."

Alongside repairing potholes, surface dressing is currently taking place across Cheshire East. Surface dressing is a process using bitumen and chippings which protects roads that have been patched ahead of winter to make repairs last longer. This year's surface dressing will use around 700,000 square metres of bitumen.

Residents can report any defects to Cheshire East's online fault reporting page at www.cheshireeasthighways.org/ReportIt or by phoning the highways team on 0300 123 5020.

Photos: (from r-l) CEC officer Jason Brookes shaking hands with Council Leader Michael Jones and CEC officer Darren Chambers shaking hands with Councillor David Topping, cabinet member in charge of the environment.

Tags:: Cheshire East Council, David Topping, Michael Jones, Potholes

Comments

Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.

Neil Matthews

Saturday 24^th August 2013 at 12:07 pm

I guess Moor Lane isn't part of Wilmslow then...

Roger Bagguley

Saturday 24^th August 2013 at 2:50 pm

Beat me to it Neil. Moor Lane has been a nightmare for some years now and the junction with Strawberry Lane stretch is best described as a series of craters rather than potholes, if not a crater in its own right.

Dean Fitzpatrick

Saturday 24^th August 2013 at 4:37 pm

No, it really isnt. If it is indeed a war then the council have turned up with a knife to a gunfight.

Sally Hoare

Saturday 24^th August 2013 at 8:01 pm

Yes I live in that part of Moor Lane too and it is a nightmare. Many less busy roads seem to have had priority.

Graham Jackson

Saturday 24^th August 2013 at 11:11 pm

Princess Avenue (cul-de-sac) re-surfaced, Westward Road (minor link road) patched. Moor Lane busy commuter road full of holes, botched patching, sunken grids and worn out its full length nothing. What are they waiting for the new housing development to pay for the costs?

Nick Jones

Sunday 25^th August 2013 at 7:53 pm

The Labours of Hercules were 12 “Impossible tasks “....... He was ably assisted by Hermes and Athena........ and in the end succeeded

Ridding Wilmslow and Alderley Edge of its precarious carriage way craters and pot holes is probably an equivalent task...... I’m not sure what equivalent help is available to expedite this one.... However........

It occurs to me that with exception,.... a large number of these craters / holes ... occur sometime after contractors complete some manner of road work, Gas, Electric, Cable, etc.......

Would it not be worthwhile in these contractors repairs being ‘inspected’ to standard by the council when complete and signed off............ with a period of time maybe a “reasonable time “ 18/24 months liability to ensure the repair stays fixed and does not disintegrate...... And if it does they repair at their cost not Ratepayers.. Or are held to account

In the mean time..... keep up the good work............ But isn’t there an old adage about counting Chikens and Hens?

Lee Brocklehurst

Tuesday 27^th August 2013 at 3:29 pm

I'm not aware of any adage with both chikens and hens but I would love to see the adage "One day Cock of the Walk, next day a feather duster!" applied to many of our Councillors.

As for the Labours of Hercules, perhaps his 5th labour, the cleaning of the Augean stables, would be suitable for the current CEC.

James Lamplugh

Tuesday 27^th August 2013 at 4:20 pm

As a resident of Moor Lane I am very happy with the state of the road, it not only helps to reduce the speed of the cars on the road but with the amount of school children who use the road it probably saves lives too. Long may the council invest elsewhere!!

Jon Williams

Wednesday 28^th August 2013 at 8:43 am

Maybe Council Leader Michael Jones and CEC officer Darren Chambers should try riding a bike around Wilmslow and Alderley Edge, then they would see and feel what the roads are like.

Saturday 31^st August 2013 at 2:58 pm

Whilst I feel your pain James, I also live on Moor Lane and agree the traffic is often way too fast, using potholes to slow vehicles down is dangerous. And obviously it doesn't work as by your own admission, people still drive too fast. What potholes do is to cause road users to have to swerve, this is often cyclists and motorcyclists which is a danger for all. When it's raining then this becomes a nightmare. We should get the road repaired and discuss with the council ways of calming traffic and getting rid of the HGVs that patrol Moor Lane but leaving the road to fall apart is not good for road safety.