Potholes worse than ever, says motorist

A motorist says potholes near his home in Balderton are worse than ever.

Mr Simon Draper has complained to Nottinghamshire County Council about potholes where Main Street joins Coddington Road.

Mr Draper, 50, a technician, who lives on Main Street and has been driving in Balderton for 18 years, said he used the route almost daily to get to work on Newark Industrial Estate.

Mr Draper said: “I am sick of seeing these roads as they are — I have never seen them so bad.

“Coddington Road has been bad for some time.”

Mr Draper said he was concerned for the safety of motorists.

“People are swerving to miss potholes and I can see an accident happening,” he said.

“I am a driver but I am also a keen cyclist so I can see it from two perspectives.

“It is incredibly frustrating that nothing seems to be done about these things.”

Mr Draper said his daughter, Erin Draper, needed two new tyres after her car hit a pothole near Bottesford three weeks ago.

He said potholes seemed to have got worse in recent years and put it down to a lack of maintenance.

“What we are finding is that they are coming round with a vehicle and throwing tar into the potholes but it doesn’t really solve the problem,” Mr Draper said.

“You can see on the pictures I have taken of Coddington Road that it is like a patchwork quilt in places.”

'Keeping the highway network safe for road users'

Mr Draper said he had reported the potholes to Via, which maintains roads on behalf of Nottinghamshire County Council.

Suzanne Heydon, head of network management at Via East Midlands, said: “Our priority is keeping the Nottinghamshire highway network safe for road users.

“We were made aware of a number of defects on Coddington Road, Balderton.

“Our inspectors visited the site and scheduled those that met our investigatory levels for repair. A number of potholes reported on this road were repaired in early February.

“While we understand that the condition of the road surface is deteriorating on Coddington Road, we will continue to monitor the road through our inspections and repair any other defects that meet our investigatory levels.

“We urge members of the public to report any potholes they find either by calling 0300 500 80 80 or by visiting the Nottinghamshire County Council website.

“With over 70,000 potholes repaired in the county in 2017, our resources require us to use a range of repair methods to keep our roads safe.

“The county council have recently announced a £20m investment over four years, predominantly focused on residential roads and the unclassified network, which have not received as much investment over recent years.”