A MAJOR road into Barnsley riddled with potholes is to be resurfaced just ten years after it was built, Barnsley Council confirmed this week.
Patrick Holder said the 200-yard stretch of Whinby Road at Dodworth between the Fairway and Higham Lane was the worst stretch of highway he’d ever seen. He uses the road every day and complained to the Chronicle about its state in April.
Since then a number of the potholes have been patched-up by the council, but several have been left as they were.
Patrick contacted the Chronicle again this week to say: “There are still bad potholes on the A628 at Dodworth, around 75 per cent are done but there are still some quite bad ones which require urgent attention.”
But when the Chronicle contacted Barnsley Council to ask why some had been repaired but not others, a spokesman confirmed the entire stretch of highway was due to be resurfaced within a matter of weeks.
“We have repaired all the potholes that were identified by the area inspector,” said the spokesman.
“We now have an order for the resurfacing of the road and are in the process of programming this work.
“The whole of the road from Higham Lane roundabout to Upper Cliffe Road is being resurfaced.
“The works are to remove the existing carriageway surface to a depth of 40mm and replace with 40mm of stone mastic asphalt. This means it will be a complete new surface.
“Subject to the booking of road space, it is hoped this will take place in around six weeks.”
Patrick, 53, of Inchburn Crescent, Penistone, said he was pleased to hear the road was to be resurfaced, but found it shocking that the potholes had been left for so long.
“There are some really quite bad ones that remain,” he said. “It’s still making people drive on the wrong side of the road to avoid them, it’s dangerous.
“The one by the Higham roundabout particularly, it’s absolutely disgusting that’s been left like that.
“You can’t help but try and avoid it, pushing you on onto the wrong side of the road. If something’s coming the other way, you have no choice you have to drive through it.
“I imagine Barnsley Council must have an extremely stringent health and safety policy.
“They probably can’t let someone go up a couple of steps in there isn’t a handrail, they won’t let someone carry a cup of tea without a tray, but they’re happy to let members of the public cause untold damage to their cars and let them loose on roads like these.
“My car’s just gone in for a service, I’ve had to replace all the suspension bushes, for no other reason than potholes.
“It’s atrocious.”
The road, part of the Dodworth bypass, opened in 2008. It closed for a couple of weeks in 2015 to reconstruct the roundabout at Higham Lane to make it easier for large vehicles to negotiate.
The council says the majority of Barnsley’s roads are in good condition but the severe icy weather at the end of winter caused significantly more potholes than expected.
