Council Asked For Assurance On Road Verge Repairs

10.16.00am BST (GMT +0100) Sun 22nd Jul 2007

Barry Stamp - Stafford Borough Councillor

Traffic using the lane between Doxey, Derrington and Haughton to avoid the Newport Road closure is decimating the roadside verges said a local Councillor, Barry Stamp, this week.

Stafford Borough Councillor Barry Stamp said that heavy lorries and buses that were using the road as a short cut were either driving over the verges themselves or were forcing other vehicles off the road to avoid a collision.

"Over the last couple of weeks the road between Doxey, Derrington, and Haughton has seen a massive increase in the numbers of vehicles that are using the route to avoid the closed Newport Road."

"While the lane can just about cope with cars it is far too small for heavy lorries and buses. These vehicles are causing mayhem as they try to negotiate the tight bends and the narrow sections of the road. In most cases the only option they have is to run over the grass verges or up into the hedge banks, which of course are now extremely soft due the persistent heavy rain."

"A few days ago I watched a large articulated lorry and a bus try to pass each other, a manoeuvre which was only made possible by both vehicles driving off the edge of the road and up the grass bank at the side of the road."

"There are now sections of this lane where the road has been widened by these vehicles by a couple of feet and some of the bends and junctions have just been devastated and turned into a muddy mess."

"To make matters worse the road has no kerbs and the constant overrunning of the edges mean that in places there is a drop of four or five inches down the edge of the road foundation. Once a car wheel drops into this trench it is extremely difficult and dangerous to get back on the carriageway."

"I have today written to Staffordshire County Council's Highways Department asking them to take immediate steps to reinstate the edges of the carriageway at the danger spots and for an assurance that the damages verges and roadside banks will be repaired once the Newport Road is reopened and traffic levels on this particular road returns to normal."

"My worry is that as the County Council are facing major financial problems they will conveniently forget the state this road is in," said Barry Stamp.