COVENTRY MESSAGE BOARD

Just 7 miles of Coventry road are due to be treated in 2023-24



Streets in Coventry are in such a bad way that drivers are forced to swerve dangerously to avoid potholes and elderly people feel afraid to go out. It is claimed that some roads are only being resurfaced on one side while there are reports of pavements not being fixed since the 1970s.

Such was the picture given by Conservative city councillors in a debate on the city's roads and pavements this week. The opposition group asked the city council to express "deep concern" over the state of highways and footpaths.

During the debate, Conservative councillors gave examples of how the problems are affecting residents. "Drivers are swerving to miss the deep potholes on main roads," said Cllr Julia Lepoidevin.

"This is dangerous, and many of our elderly residents are frightened to go out for a walk due to the condition of the pavements. One resident in Tudor Avenue approaching 100 will no longer join neighbours for coffee because she feels so unsafe."

Cllr John Blundell told the meeting about a road in south Coventry which was only partly resurfaced six years ago. Residents raised a petition to get the other half done last year but the road wasn't included in this year's programme due to inflation costs, he claimed.

"When you've got your machinery all to do a road, why on earth do we only do half a road?" he said. "We just can't understand it."

Cllr Jackie Gardiner highlighted the human cost of potholes with the story of her late father, who fractured three vertebrae in his back after driving over one in a car. He was left hobbling around in agony for six months, needed emergency surgery and then spent four years plagued with excruciating pain in his back before his death, she said.

"I tell the council this tale because we need to know the real impact of continually allowing our roads to continually crumble and pothole."

Cllr Mattie Heaven, shadow cabinet member for city services, slammed the state of the city's roads and pavements as "unacceptable". She said: "For too long repairs of pavements and roads have been a Cinderella service."

She called for the council to look closely at the quality of repairs, so money is saved in the long term. Cllr Heaven also referred to the extra £275,000 the group put forward in its "alternative budget" to the council's plans earlier this year. She suggested exploring other ways of funding the works such as a community infrastructure levy on developers and sponsoring highways.

Cllr Ridley [pictured above], leader of the Conservative group, accepted that problems with repairs aren't limited to Coventry. "I recognise that the financial situation is difficult, and I recognise that there is a national problem with highways," he said.

"I think it's something like a £12bn backlog in fact to bring the highways up to the standards that they need." But he claimed: "There are things that we could do locally that we are not doing."

As well as calling for more developer levies and sponsored roads, he took aim at city council spending on other projects, such as buying Coombe Abbey and Tom White Waste. Cllr Ridley later added that the group's "alternative budget" next year would include more money for inspectors.