York roads are in a worse state than they were three years ago – with about 10 per cent of streets in some areas of the city in desperate need of repair.
And one councillor says the city is becoming “infamous” for the poor state of its highways.
The proportion of roads ranked as in the worst condition has increased in every part of the city since 2016.
In Strensall, Holgate, Heworth Without, Micklegate and Wheldrake wards, close to 10 per cent of roads have been graded as structurally impaired – the worst condition.
A report for a City of York Council meeting says in Holgate 1.94% of roads were in the worst condition in 2016 – but by 2019 that had risen to 9.88% of the area’s roads.
In Strensall, more than 10% of roads are now classes as structurally impaired. And there is a £112m backlog of repair work citywide.
York is infamous
Strensall councillor Paul Doughty said he hopes the report means roads in his ward – the worst in the city – will get more attention:
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The state of the roads, particularly in my ward is something I frequently highlight with council officers.
I feel the outer wards are not always given the attention they deserve and have on occasion been told they don’t meet the criteria despite what we can see with our eyes.
He said he was pleased the main stretch of The Village through Stockton-on-the-Forest was resurfaced by the previous administration a year ago. But many roads in his ward desperately needed attention.
Holgate Labour councillor Kallum Taylor said:
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I’m not surprised at all to see these figures.
York’s now infamous for the state of its roads, and our worst ones are getting worse, so I’m pleased that colleagues on the economy and place committee agree that we need to start having a proper look at how the council performs in this area.
Funding for road repairs comes from central government and the report says more than £8.1m has been allocated to highway maintenance work in the council’s budget this year.
But it adds: “The current back log of maintenance is approximately £112m based on the current condition and cost of repairs.”
The condition of roads in the city will be discussed at a meeting on Tuesday.
What City of York Council says
“It is of course extremely important that category 5 roads are repaired, however, it is significantly more expensive to reconstruct a road at grade 5, than to repair a road at grade 3 road, in order to stop it deteriorating further.
“That is why the council is working proactively to identify road repairs before their condition worsens and provide best value for money.
“Officers are currently in the process of categorising and reviewing the highway network, so that the Highway Maintenance Plan can be further developed and considered by Executive in the New Year.”
“The scrutiny committee have requested information to help them discuss highway maintenance in the city.
“The council Executive considered a report in October, which identified different types of maintenance to best manage and improve the highway network, ensuring that the funding the Council is investing, is used as effectively as possible.”