Mayor of Bury St Edmunds Diane Hind hits out at Suffolk Highways over ‘lack of urgency’ over potholes
The Mayor of Bury St Edmunds has said the local highway authority’s response over potholed roads in the town ‘beggars belief’.
Cllr Diane Hind had described Station Hill as a ‘patchwork quilt’ of defects and repairs and called for it to be resurfaced and wanted the Tollgate Triangle junction, at Fornham Road and the crossroads, to be repaired urgently.
However, a response from Suffolk Highways said its teams would be returning to Station Hill to repair one defect as soon as possible and could not provide timescales for the planned road repairs at the Tollgate junction.
Cllr Hind, a ward councillor for Tollgate, said Suffolk Highways’ response left her ‘incredulous’, but she was also not too surprised ‘as I don’t think they have any sense of urgency’.
Of the Tollgate junction, she said: “Something that’s so dangerous needs to be prioritised and it just beggars belief.”
It is understood some potholes have been repaired further down Fornham Road, in between the junctions with Norfolk Road and the crossroads, however defects at the crossroads are still there.
A number of motorists have reported damage to tyres this week as they drove over the potholed crossroads, with one saying just yesterday: “I got a blowout after I hit it in the dark and rain. Very dangerous and now very expensive.”
In relation to the Tollgate junction, Cllr Hind added: “On behalf of my residents, I just think it’s appalling and I’m disgusted really. It should have been done by now.”
In terms of Station Hill, she said she was ‘not surprised’ highways had not said they would resurface the road, and added: “It’s too easy to do just one little pothole and it’s cheaper. But in the long term it would be more cost-effective to resurface.”
A spokeswoman for Suffolk Highways said on Monday: “In accordance with our Highway Maintenance Operational Plan (HMOP), all road defects on Station Hill that meet our intervention standards have been repaired. However, our teams will be returning to complete one additional defect as soon as possible.
“Due to the traffic management requirements at the Tollgate junction, we are unable to provide timescales for the planned road repairs however, the repairs have been raised with our contractors.”
Cllr Hind felt ‘nothing has changed’ in terms of improvements to the roads since Milestone became Suffolk County Council’s new highways partner, which took effect in October last year.
“I was hoping the quality of the work might be better. I cannot see any sign of that. I’m disappointed really.
“I don’t think they [Suffolk County Council] should be in partnership with a private company full stop. Whatever the price a private company can do it at the council should be able to do it for less.”
SuffolkNews had asked Suffolk Highways whether Station Hill could be resurfaced and whether defects at the Tollgate Triangle junction could be tackled as an emergency.
Potholes in Great Barton have also angered residents there, however they were scheduled to be fixed this week.
