City's winter legacy of 32,000 potholes
THE severe winter has taken its toll on Sheffield roads to such an extent that 32,000 potholes have been identified for attention - more than six times the number at the corresponding time last year.
Council highways officers have been inundated with requests from drivers - and the authority is earmarking an extra 500,000 this year to help tackle problems.
But hopes of truly getting to grips with the state of Sheffield roads rest on a long-awaited 674m repair and maintenance programme due to start in the summer of next year.
The programme was drawn up a few years ago at a time when motorists were already complaining about the going being rough.
Snow and ice throughout much of the winter have caused much more damage, and the situation across South Yorkshire has been described as the worst for 30 years.
"We identified 5,000 potholes in January and February 2009, but this year the figure has increased to 32,000, which gives a dramatic indication of the scale of the problem," said John Charlton, director of the council's Street Force service.
The recent bad weather had caused a great deal of damage to roads in all parts of the country, he said. "As an example, in Sheffield received 598 requests to deal with potholes during January and February last year, whereas this year we had 1,032."
The current budget for carriageway and footway repairs is 2.1m, said Mr Charlton, "and we are likely to spend a further 0.5m to repair the additional damage caused by the bad weather.
"We will be carrying out inspections to fully assess the extent of the damage and prepare a more permanent programme of patching and resurfacing to be carried out in 2010/11."
Money will come from the Government.
Mr Charlton added that Sheffield was fortunate to have the highways maintenance Private Finance Initiative in the offing. "It is specifically designed to address the backlog of repairs and will bring the roads and pavements up to a good standard over the initial seven year core investment period."
Last month Shadow Transport Minister Stephen Hammond, on a visit to the city, said the programme was expected to be safe under a Tory Government.
In the meantime, the council's ruling Liberal Democrat group says tackling potholes is a priority, and this is reflected in its budget for the next 12 months, due to be confirmed tomorrow.
Motor repairers are reporting unprecedented levels of damage caused by the state of the roads.
The Gilder Van Centre in Europa Close, Sheffield, has recorded a 150% increase in damage to customer's vehicles.
Head of business David May said: "Hitting a pothole can damage the tyres, wheels, suspension or steering. It could even cause an accident.
"Commercial vehicles are particularly vulnerable as they are heavier than normal cars, and are often carrying loads.
"The most common repair work is on broken springs, damaged wheel rims, split tyres and wheels forced out of alignment, causing steering problems.
"Drivers may not be aware if you hit a pothole that hasn't been reported to the local council and damage your vehicle, you can't claim against the council because they can say they didn't know about it.
"We're advising drivers to inform the local council of any potholes, so they can be repaired and reduce the damage to other vehicles using the road."
Buy The Star - Monday to Saturday - for local news, sport, features and ads. To subscribe CLICK HERE
READ MORE
Main news index
Your letters
Features
South Yorkshire's environmental news
Kids Zone
More business news
More Rotherham news
More Doncaster news
More Barnsley news
Latest sport
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Sheffield
Thursday 24 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 11 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: East
