Residents of Magnus Street feel they live on “worst street in Newark” for potholes – and demand a full resurface from Nottinghamshire County Council

Residents living on the ‘worst street in Newark’ for potholes feel ignored by the council — and are demanding a full resurfacing of the road.

Magnus Street is commonly used by drivers as a popular cut-through and parking spot, despite being a residential street.

High volumes of traffic — from cars and heavy goods vehicles making deliveries to nearby businesses in the town centre — have led to the drastic deterioration of the road, which might not now even be fixed next year.

The Advertiser counted more than 100 potholes of varying sizes — not including the countless cracks, splits and dips — dominating the street, which is less than 200 metres long.

While visiting Magnus Street, we spoke with residents unhappy at the state of their road. They are calling for change from Nottinghamshire County Council — which is responsible for the upkeep of roads in the county.

Vivienne Hall, who lives on the street with her husband Bob, said: “Everyone has potholes, but I think this is probably the worst road in Newark.

“There is a joke around town that the residents of Magnus Street don’t mind the potholes because it slows the traffic down. Well I can tell you that, if that was the case, it doesn’t work.

“This is the result of long term neglect — we’ve got potholes in the potholes, cars have been damaged and we are tired of being ignored.

“When we have asked in the past, we were originally told that the council would redo the road in 2022, but it’s been pushed back and back and now we’re being told it won’t be until 2024/25.

“They have been down a few times to gather information about the road but we were told that, because the work required was so complex to carry out, we’d have to wait.”

While fixes have been made on occasion to remove the worst of the potholes, they join a patchwork of other spot repairs spanning the length of the street which haven't improved the smoothness or quality of the road surface.

Ted and Janet Heath have lived on Magnus Street for 25 years and have seen the issues worsen over time.

“There are more patches than there is original Tarmac.” said Ted.

“It’s gradually got worse over the years and it’s got to the stage where I don’t ride a bike down here any more because it’s so dangerous.

“I actually did hit a hole and fall off not long ago, luckily it was just bruises, but now I just get off and push.”

Some potholes are also so deep that the substrate stones and gravel have been exposed and litter the road, presenting a potential hazard for vehicles and pedestrians should a rock be projected from underneath a car tyre.

This has led residents to call for a full resurfacing of the road.

Bob Hall said: “What they need to do is rip it all up and start again.

“You can see the underlayer is just river pebbles, with a thin layer of tarmac on top.

“Ever since they stopped cars going up Appletongate, cars are forced to come down here which of course is going to have an impact.

“So the poor construction, in regards to the traffic it’s now supposed to bear, is just not up to the job.

“I bet if you added up the cost of all the patches they’ve done over the years they could have redone the whole lot by now. They need to bite the bullet and spend.”

Another resident of 11 years added: “It’s a rat-run sometimes — traffic is often redirected whenever there is an issue around town and with Queen’s Road being closed it’s only got worse.

“The traffic means whenever they do fill in potholes, they come back again within a few weeks.

“The council will spray rings around the holes to mark them for repair but by the time they come to fix them, the holes have worn beyond the lines and they don’t get done.”

During heavy rain, potholes also hold standing water, disguising their depth and adding a further hazard.

Beyond the safety concerns surrounding the potholes, they also represent a financial challenge — with residents saying they have damaged cars.

A builder working to redevelop a house on the street said that he had to replace a car wheel at the cost of more than £400 and also faced further unexpected costs, with packs of tiles breaking when being delivered to the street.

There are now calls for a complete resurface of the road, something Nottinghamshire County Council promised to do more often earlier this year in an attempt to move away from quick patches.

When approached for comment, a highways manager at Nottinghamshire County Council, said: “We are aware of deterioration of the road surface on Magnus Street in Newark.

“Our teams will be visiting the street to repair areas which have been marked for repair, and we are actively considering the street for inclusion in a future programme.”

They added: “Our highways teams are out and about everyday improving the quality of roads and keeping Nottinghamshire’s 2,600 miles of highway network safe.

“We have invested significantly in improving the condition of our roads throughout the county with a focus on large scale road surface repairs.

“In 2022, we completed over 332,000m2 of quality resurfacing across Nottinghamshire, which equates to approximately 41 miles of road receiving high-quality, long-lasting surfacing repairs.

“This was split across hundreds of roads located the length and breadth of the county.”

A map of road improvements can be views online along with photographs of the completed works by visiting: www.nottshighways.co.uk.

Is this really the worst road in Newark? Do you have an issue with potholes? Let us know by emailing: f.burrows@iliffepublishing.co.uk or air your views in the comments below