Welwyn Garden City pothole road ‘safe’ says council
A CONCERNED motorist has criticised the county council after he reported a huge pothole and was sent a reply insisting the road is safe.
Last week we reported on the bone-shaking stretch along Birchall Lane, Welwyn Garden City.
Since then a resident complained about the “very dangerous” stretch of road, via the county council highways department’s website, and was shocked to receive an email which read: “This report has been passed to the Herts Highways Local Area Team for consideration for inspection.
“Full repair works are not possible at present but the area has been inspected and is considered safe.”
The “safe” assessment came despite the motorist, who did not wish to be named, telling highways chiefs: “My main concern is the safety of other road users as drivers are now moving into oncoming traffic trying to avoid the surface which is on a fast moving road with sharp turns.”
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Ivan Holder, of Peartree Lane, Welwyn Garden City, also uses the road and criticised a recent resurfacing job for missing the worst road surface.
He told the Welwyn Hatfield Times: “I was also concerned that when the road was resurfaced, fairly recently last year, the stretch from A414 roundabout stopped before the location of the road problem, and from Cole Green Lane to just before this problem.
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“The problem area was missed.”
He added: “The road surface is badly broken up, and could cause a motorcyclist to come to grief.”
And another driver demanded to know when repairs will be done.
She asked: “When is this work to be carried out? I see you have finally put signs up, but this needs to be addressed with urgency.”
A Hertfordshire Highways spokeswoman said: “We have already made temporary repairs at this site several times but the high volume of heavy vehicles that regularly use that stretch of the road quickly dislodge the material.
“That is why, rather than make more temporary repairs, we are scheduling in permanent repair works. These are scheduled to happen by the end of March.”
She added: “We appreciate that road users are concerned about this stretch of road and we have put up signs warning of the uneven surface.”
