Upper Eastern Green Lane has been voted worst for potholes...

[dutchman]

The western Coventry street causes issued for drivers and residents alike



Upper Eastern Green Lane has been voted the worst for potholes by Coventry residents - and it’s not hard to see why. Even in the Eastern Green area, the street seems by far and away the worst-paved road.

It’s baffling when you consider that nearby Broad Lane is far busier and yet is in much better condition. All things considered, Coventry does quite well with the condition of its streets.

The worst example I’ve witnessed was in Halifax, West Yorkshire, where some streets were so abysmal I was scared my car would bottom out. However, Upper Eastern Green Lane was exceptionally poor.

On my visit, I saw a pockmarked mess of fill-ins and bodge jobs in desperate need of a full schedule of work. Residents agree, with one saying a dip in the road near a manhole cover means he heard a thud from every vehicle going past his house.

When asked why he thought the road was so bad, the resident, who declined to be named, said: “I think it’s a few things.

“There’s a lot of heavy vehicles and agricultural vehicles coming down here which increases the wear on the road. And that’s going to get worse with the new developments nearby. It’s not just the road that needs fixing, it’s the pavements as well.”

One of the issues pointed out is that while the road is treated as a local access road, in reality it is used by drivers as a thoroughfare to bypass Broad Lane. That results in cars doing excessive speed on a very straight piece of road.

As I was speaking to locals, I spotted at least three BMWs doing well in excess of the speed limit - quite an achievement given how rutted the road was. Another resident, Aimee Redhead, said she wanted to see sections of the road closed for it to be fixed properly.

She said: “Instead of just every now and then turning up and patching it up, if they were to shut it off in sections and properly sort it out. Obviously it would be an inconvenience but people would understand because it would sort the problem out.

“The amount of heavy duty lorries coming down here is just making the problem worse. Particularly down at the end, it’s like the surface of the moon.”