Shropshire Council has recently been awarded a cool £1 million from the government’s Pothole Action Fund. Just maybe this has gone to the council’s head.
One million pounds will pay for the elimination of 19,500 potholes from our county’s highways at fifty quid a time. Hurrah!
But not at 3.30am in the morning.
Last night, Shropshire Council arrived on the Galdeford corner, by the Co-op and the Queens, to start drilling out potholes and patching them. Local residents and visitors in holiday cottages were awakened by the noise. They were not happy.
Jane Vaughan from The Queens posted a video of the disruption on Facebook.
I still have no idea why this work was scheduled for such a stupid hour of the morning. We are fortunate that a lot of people still live in our town centre. And a lot of visitors come here because it is – mostly – a tranquil town at night.
I understand there was some concern within the highways team about disrupting traffic during the day. But I do not think that the convenience of traffic takes precedence over a good night’s sleep.
In any event, why are we repairing potholes when this road is due to resurfaced in the next few months? Thought not, I hope, at 3.30am in the morning.
A Shropshire Council highways officer was on site first thing this morning to apologise for the disruption. It is not easy to go and meet people having made a mistake but this was very much the right thing to do.
Highways executives tell me:
“Next time we have a similar issue we should look at doing the works late evening, after the bulk of traffic and buses have dispersed but prior to the sleeping period.”
That’s a better approach.
Thanks for the update Andy…. I couldn’t believe my ears at 3.30pm as I live just doors down from The Queens.