Potholes on increase

Despite a relatively mild winter, the number of potholes appearing on local roads continues to increase.

In the main this is a result of major cuts to maintenance investment implemented by the new Labour administration when they took office in 2011.

City of York Council

Road repairs expenditure

Year

Pothole reports

Resurfacing

Basic maintenance

Total

2012/13

2492

£1,570,000

£616,700

£2,186,700

2011/12

1566

£2,134,000

£877,200

£3,011,200

2010/11

2860

£1,706,000

£1,008,000

£2,714,000

2009/10

966

£1,604,000

£1,096,000

£2,700,000

 

The York Council will in 2014/15 return to its pre 2011 levels of investment, but for many roads the change will come too late. A poorly maintained highway costs much more to repair than one that has had some routine maintenance.

We believe that the Council should use the £1.3 million, that it has raised by fining drivers on Lendal and Coppergate, on dealing with the repairs backlog.

Road damage claims up 67%

Call for Lendal Bridge fine income to be used to repair roads

The number of claims for compensation following damage to vehicles caused by poorly maintained roads in York dramatically increased last year.

Damaged speed humps. Already dangerous for cyclists.

Damaged speed humps. Already dangerous for cyclists.

The change followed a decision by the Labour controlled Council to reduce expenditure on highways maintenance by over £2 million.

The number of claims received, for incidents over recent years, has been

  • 2011 – 75
  • 2012 – 52
  • 2013 – 87

There are now calls for the Council to agree, at its budget meeting next week, to increase the amount it spends on maintenance back to the £5.5 million figure which was being invested each year by the previous, LibDem controlled authority.

Pressure is also growing for the £1.3 million – taken in fines from motorists on Lendal Bridge and in Coppergate – to be used to address the backlog in resurfacing works.

‘The only way is Essex’ say Lib Dems

Liberal Democrats say that Labour run York Council should follow the example of Essex and introduce an amnesty for drivers fined for breaking controversial traffic restrictions.

Earlier this month Essex County Council said that 30,000 drivers penalised for using a new bus lane in Colchester will be repaid or have their fines cancelled after the council agreed its signs were unclear. Fines, amounting to about £1m have been paid to the council, will now be handed back and any outstanding charges will be cancelled.

In York, over 40,000 fines have so far been issued to drivers crossing Lendal Bridge after Labour run City of York Council partially closed it to traffic at the end of August. The council has been inundated with complaints about the closure, particularly regarding the poor signage. Indeed, at the beginning of December the council was forced to install new warning signs. It is thought that the authority is now routinely not contesting appeals against fines; however, thousands of motorists are believed to have already paid.
(more…)

Highways maintenance cuts for York revealed.

The Council has revealed how it plans to spend £2.6 million on highways and footpath resurfacing over the next financial year.

road works

The provisional expenditure is down on the £3.4 million being invested during the current year.

That in turn was well down on the budget agreed by the last Liberal Democrat administration which held power until 2011 and which regularly invested over £5 million a year in the highways network.

Carriageway surfaces are now breaking up and the repairs backlog is growing.

In the Dringhouses and Woodthorpe ward only part of the Moor Lane carriageway will be resurfaced.

No footpaths in the area will be resurfaced.

Behind closed doors logo

A full list of streets where repairs are planned can be downloaded by clicking here

A final Council highways budget for next year will be announced in March.

The decision, on which roads to resurface, was taken in another “behind closed doors” meeting. There was no consultation with residents on the options.

York road repairs backlog hits £32.7 million

In response to a Freedom of information request , the York Council has admitted that it would cost £32.7 million to address the backlog on highways repairs.

The figure includes all road and footway refurbishment works with associated drainage and road signs and markings.

Meanwhile more and more problems with potholes are expected as ice further damages poor road surfaces during the winter months.

West Thorpe pothole

West Thorpe pothole

Swale Avenue pothole

Swale Avenue pothole

Lerecroft Road pothole

Lerecroft Road pothole

Leeside footpath disintegrating

Leeside footpath disintegrating

Highmoor Close poor footpath

Highmoor Close poor footpath

Herdsman Road potholes

Herdsman Road potholes

“Traffic congestion in York getting worse” – residents. Costs put at £491 per household

Congestion cartoon 2

Every respondent, to the survey that we are undertaking in parts of the Hob Moor and Dringhouses areas, has so far said that traffic congestion in York has got worse in recent months.

Delays of the type experienced during the “rush hours” have now become commonplace at other times of the day.

The sudden deterioration has been put down to a series of factors.

The decision to close Lendal Bridge to private traffic, while at the same time undertaking extensive road works on the A1237 northern by pass, is blamed by many.

Unreliable traffic signals, burst water mains and a population less willing to use bus services, have added to the problems.

The Council’s ridiculously titled campaign to “Get York Moving” lies in tatters with a report to a Cabinet meeting earlier in the month lacking any information on traffic volumes or congestion delays.

Nationally according to a recent report, close to £426m is being wasted on fuel alone due to traffic hold ups, which means each of the 8.2 million commuting drivers in the country have to bear a fuel cost of £52.

INRIX, an international provider of traffic information and intelligent driver services, together with Cebr, has revealed that congestion on roads costs around £491 per car-commuting household.

The other direct cost is wastage of time, with the average cost of time wasted in gridlock per traveller £331, which results in a total national time cost of £2.7bn.