Kent town among nation's worst for potholes
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by Andy Gray
A Kent town has been rated among the
worst in Britain for potholes.
In a nationwide Streetwatch survey
carried out by AA members, Dartford - along with Oldham
and Blackpool - was also bottom of the pile in terms
of litter and dog mess.
Faded road markings, uneven pavements
and bad signage were its other failings.
Nearly 2,000 members took part in
the survey.
It involved recording the
frequency of 12 categories of street blight within two miles of
their homes.
Eleven members covered the
Dartford area.
Edmund King, AA president, said: "AA
Streetwatch is perhaps an example of the Big Society in action.
"We shall share the results with local
highway authorities to support our campaign for more investment in
local streets and paths - neglect of these areas has a
significant impact on how people feel about where they live."
Feedback from members revealed
potholes were the most serious issue they encountered.
It comes as Kent County Council this
week announced a "pothole blitz".
An army of specialist tarmac firms has
been set to work on a month-long, counywide campaign to fix holes
in need of urgent repair.
They will work alongside Kent Highway
Services gangs in a £1 million drive to fix roads badly affected by
December’s big freeze.
Paul Carter, KCC leader said: "We
know snow and ice caused damage to the roads and we are absolutely
determined to fix the potholes that the recent freezing
temperatures have created.
"We are getting in first class,
specialist firms to tackle this head on."
Director of Kent Highway Services John Burr added: "Following
our extremely successful find and fix programme last year - in
which crews filled 31,000 potholes and resurfaced 122,000 square
metres of road - we put together a plan, that should we
experience a really poor winter, detailed how we would fix the
resultant new potholes.
"We knew there would be potholes, and we know there are
potholes, but this year we are 'hitting the ground' much sooner
than we were able to previously - and we are now tackling this by
bringing in even more crews to fix potholes.
"Many of these companies are the same local firms that we used
last year.
"The AA's information was based on 11 respondents across the
whole of the DA postcode.]
"We want residents to let us know where the potholes are.
"They can do this by reporting them online at http://www.kent.gov.uk/ or calling
our 24-hour helpline on 08458 247 800.
"We were pleased to note on a regional breakdown, the Southeast
was voted in the top three for kerbs, road signs and road
markings."
What the Streetwatch survey
revealed:
*Overall worst areas: Oldham
(worst), Blackpool (Fylde Coast) and Dartford
An army of specialist tarmac firms has
been set to work on a month-long, counywide campaign to fix holes
in need of urgent repair.
They will work alongside Kent Highway
Services gangs in a £1 million drive to fix roads badly affected by
December’s big freeze.
Paul Carter, KCC leader said: "We
know snow and ice caused damage to the roads and we are absolutely
determined to fix the potholes that the recent freezing
temperatures have created.
"We are getting in first class,
specialist firms to tackle this head on."
What the Streetwatch survey
revealed:
*Overall worst areas: Oldham
(worst), Blackpool (Fylde Coast) and Dartford
*Overall best areas: Taunton (best),
Berwick & Borders, and Ipswich
*Cleanest place: Berwick and
Borders.
*Worst areas for litter and dog
fouling: Paisley and Liverpool.
The next survey takes place the week
starting April 9. 2011.
Friday, January 21 2011
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