Hopes were raised last year when the York Council established a second pothole filling team in the City. It was hoped that the initiative would at least slow the rapidly deteriorating condition of highways in the City.
Expectations were further raised when the Department of Transport allocated part of its “Pothole challenge fund” to the City.
Sadly, the hoped-for improvements have not materialised.
Many highways are breaking up under the impact of ice and frost. A well-maintained surface is less vulnerable to frost damage but lack of urgency in patching roads in the summer and autumn, means that large stretches are now unsafe for users.
Now hidden within a large report, being considered by the Council later this week, is a proposal which would see less spent on resurfacing.
£600,000 will be taken from pothole filling/resurfacing and instead used to partly fund new schemes like the cycle path link from Wheldrake to Fulford.
Even the most extreme pro cycling campaigners are now realising that maintaining existing paths should be the Councils priority when funds are limited.
The existing cycle and highway networks are in poor condition. Why not fix them first before building more paths?
Sadly, one of the reasons seems to be that highway resurfacing activity is not very glamourous.
There will be no official naming of the pothole that Andy filled in.
On the other hand, a new path may – for a while – attract favourable publicity for its sponsors, at least until it too needs to be resurfaced.
Separately, the same report says that
- the second resurfacing of Tadcaster Road is being delayed until the summer. Gas main works are currently taking place there.
- promised repairs on National Cycle Network 65 will now not be completed until 2021/22.
- £877,000, which was to have been spent this year on Highways Ward Committees schemes, will also be delayed until next year.
