Your Voice Your Vote: Worcestershire's 'poor quality' roads
Ahead of local elections, Worcestershire's main political parties have responded to motorists' concerns about the state of the county's roads.All 57 seats on the county council are being contested on Thursday 1 May.As part of its Your Voice, Your Vote campaign, the BBC is looking at the issues that matter the most to voters.Ahead of polling day, the county's five main political parties set out their transport pledges in BBC Hereford and Worcester's local election debate.
"We seem to have a lot of roads that are deteriorating … A-roads in particular," said Melfyn Williams, who runs a courier business in Worcester."It's not just potholes, they need resurfacing."The C-roads don't look like they've had any work done at all. My question is what are we going to do about it?"The Conservative-run council has a statutory duty to repair dangerous defects - or potholes - within five or 28 days, depending on their severity.
"I have become increasingly concerned about the cost and poor quality of work carried out on our county roads," said Robert Forbes, from Kenswick, a village near Worcester.He said inadequate repairs by council contractors and utility companies had led to "severe road surface degradation, repeat work required to rectify problems, unfinished work, no checking of work quality by council inspectors.""Bromsgrove has been blighted by traffic issues for many years," said another resident, Gareth Hughes."Current works on the A38 Eastern bypass … are seen as being a complete waste of money by most, which will have no impact on traffic issues and may well cause further problems."
Party pledges
Ahead of polling day, BBC Hereford and Worcester used its local election debate to ask representatives from Worcestershire's five main political parties what they would do to improve the county's roads."Elect a Liberal Democrat councillor. We won't tell you what we'll do, we will listen – as I have listened to my residents – and we will make improvements in areas that work for you," said Liberal Democrat candidate Mel Allcott.She said her party would also look to carry out a "complete overhaul" of the county's public transport system."This is a big priority for the government…we have committed to repair 7m potholes over the next year, £1.5bn of funding" said Beverley Nielsen, who is a candidate for Labour in the council elections.While she accepted road maintenance was a priority for the council's current Conservative administration, she called for a greater focus on getting people out of their cars."70% of journeys are under five miles so there's a really big potential," she said.
"Having lots of traffic means roads deteriorate quicker. So the obvious solution is better public transport and better active travel," said Green candidate Matthew Jenkins.He added his party would prioritise improving surfaces such as pavements and bike lanes."As someone who cycles I notice where there are bad surfaces…often the worst are the few areas where we do have some bike lanes.""We're investing in all modes of transport, to the detriment of none," said Conservative Simon Geraghty."We are keeping roads and pavements in a good condition.. we're in the top quartile (25%) across the country."We're investing £64m over the next three years to keep them that way."While he welcomed investment in walking and cycling infrastructure in urban areas, Reform candidate Max Windsor-Peplow said active travel was a "much more difficult reality" for Worcestershire's rural areas."That is where some of our roads are in the worst condition," he said."We are seeing technologies produced by JCB and manufacturers that repair potholes quicker. Those need to be investigated".He said Reform had pledged any "spare" money the council had would be prioritised for roads.
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