POTHOLE plagued roads in the upper dale are being considered for a countywide resurfacing programme but chiefs have warned that money is tight.
Durham County Council has identified more than 30 safety defects on the unclassified road from Middleton-in-Teesdale to Newbiggin via Hude. They are due to be patched up but may not be part of a long-term countywide resurfacing programme.
The issues were discovered during an unscheduled inspection on March 13 which was prompted by a letter of concern sent by Middleton-in-Teesdale and Newbiggin Parish Council. On behalf of residents, parish councillors voiced their worries about the state of the roads in the parish as well as the recent flooding on the B6277 between Middleton-in-Teesdale and Newbiggin.
In January cars were damaged when the B6277 was submerged in up to two feet of water near Gateside. Residents blamed the county council’s poor drainage system and maintenance practices. Meanwhile, three feet wide holes plagued the unclassified highway which runs through Middle Side.
Parish clerk Judith Mashiter announced at the recent parish council meeting that a response had been received from the county council which said it was “committed to ensuring that the adopted highway is maintained in a safe condition as far as reasonably practicable” .
They also confirmed that an investigation was underway to identify the cause of flooding and find ways to stop it.
Head of technical services John Reed wrote: “All adopted roads and footpaths in County Durham are inspected by our team of highway inspectors at a frequency appropriate to their usage.
“Defects are assessed against intervention criteria set out in our highway safety inspection manual and reactive repairs are undertaken to those defects which exceed the intervention criteria in accordance with the response times set out in our highway maintenance plan.”
According to Mr Reed, the B6277 is inspected monthly and was last checked on March 14. Six defects were identified and then repaired.
Mr Reed said the back road is also inspected annually and the last scheduled check took place on August 22 last year.
No areas of concern were found, he said. However, the inspection last month found 33 road defects and potholes which are scheduled for repair, he added.
Chairman Cllr Adam Hearn said: “The roads are dismal to be fair.”
Cllr Michael Wallbank said: “They know about the problem so I don’t think we ought to bother them. They have got the problem in hand.”
Cllr Nickie Hough said: “I was not impressed by the response about flooding. They have done nothing yet in Newbiggin.”
As well as the repairs, both roads are also being considered as part of Durham County Council’s annual road resurfacing programme.
But Mr Reed added: “We agree that these areas would benefit from resurfacing. However, we have a maintenance backlog of £190million countywide and we have to prioritise our limited highway maintenance capital budgets based on safety, return of investment and network hierarchy.
“The B6277 between Middleton-in-Teesdale and Newbiggin and the unclassified 39.3 will be considered as part of the resurfacing programme in 2019/20. There are many locations in a similar condition countywide and we have to evaluate and prioritise all requests. However, should these areas not be successful in making the 2019/20 programme they will be evaluated for possible inclusion in future resurfacing programmes.”
The parish council is requesting a written report about the findings from the flooding investigation.
