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Rapid response team to tackle potholes
Date published: 23 September 2009
A new rapid response service designed to stamp out the bane of motorists, cyclists and pedestrians, has been unveiled by Oldham Council.
Holes in the road are one of the most frequent complaints made to the authority. So now it has launched The Pothole Mole, a new specialist team designed to take a proactive approach to pothole repairs.
People can report dangerous potholes to a special hotline number on 0161-770 1685 from next Monday.
Even when a report is called in outside normal office hours, the details will be taken by the council’s First Response staff and passed on to the new unit.
An extra £60,000 has been allocated within the authority’s budget to set-up this dedicated maintenance team.
Councillor Mark Alcock, cabinet member for environment and infrastructure, said: “Within the Oldham borough and across the country, the road network is struggling from a lack of funding and a major consequence is that potholes are costing UK motorists an estimated £320 million a year and untold misery.
“At Oldham Council, we have examined how we deal internally with reports of potholes — in particular to look at the ways we can cut back on bureaucracy and paperwork — and this new service will deliver a faster responsive service to residents.
“It is, of course, our duty to fix potholes but this service will also depend on help and information from the public. Our staff can’t visit everywhere within the borough — and if we don’t know about a pothole then we can’t fill it in. If you want a pothole repaired, you should now report it on our 24-hour hotline number and let our Pothole Mole maintenance team do the rest.”
Comments
very very very overdue! sadly no amount of pothole repairs can bring back the negelect ombc have done to our roads.
not even the cheap resurfacing can fix this now and there will be more holes again come the winter frosts.
if the money had been spent properly in the first place then there would be the need for constant repairs!
I bet they will still do a botch job on the pothole and it will be in same condition within a couple of weeks, especially during winter. I watched a contractor repair pot holes outside my property the other week and I am just waiting for the "new" repair to become a "pothole" again. I could not believe the team did not even brush out the standing water in the patch and used a tarmac which was visibly cold as no steam was evident when rolled.
Perhaps the chronicle could run a report on the hole that has been "repaired" about 7 or 8 times on Vincent Avenue on Littlemoor and yet again is a hole. It is NEVER fixed correctly and must have cost far more than doing it PROPERLY the first time!.
You can report them, as I have for years, but it doesn't mean they'll get fixed any faster, if at all, for calling a new number does it? Look on fixmystreet.com
That's going to be one busy phone line. £60,000 to set up the team, but how much set aside to fix the pot holes? it'll take a lot more than that to sort out Oldham's roads which in places seem almost medieval.
What about removing all speed humps, the bain of all drivers lives, and were the ones who pay road tax and insurance unlike cyclists and pedestrians
A£cock, cabinet member for evasion & inactivity says, 'we are looking at ways we can cut back on bureaucracy & paperwork.' And who created it all? Why, the very managers Sy£es tells us, we have 'slimmed' away. How you deal with potholes internally is not the point. It's how you deal with them externally. You don't!!! Another project that will proceed at A£cock's usual pace, glaciers move faster.
Lack of funding for the road network? Other than trunk roads, all the roads in local authority areas are the responsibility of the local authority to maintain out of it's council tax.
How about Alcock and his pals actually drive along Oldham Road at Grotton/Springhead or Huddersfield Road in Waterhead? Hardly out in the sticks but desperately in need of resurfacing.
Lovely big pothole at the Waterloo Street roundabout.
suggestion to Alcock! this next 12 months spend the money on the road surfaces. force contractors to do road works in rapid speed to avoid jam's. make them replace the roads as they found it. dont waste any more money on traffic calming, bus lanes or traffic islands.
then you actually might live up to your job description! and also maybe become a hero.
Quote: ..Our staff can’t visit everywhere within the borough and if we don’t know about a pothole then we can’t fill it in...
This one's easy. First visit the pothole free areas - it won't take that long, because there aren't that many! Then anywhere you lay your tarmac will fix the rest.
couldn't agree more with chaddyender. I have to bump and jolt my way twice a day up and down Park Road,a main thoroughfare into Oldham from Abbeyhills.Paid over £100 in repairs to my suspension.Highways are not interested in damage to peoples'cars,and will not pay for repairs of course.
Have Your Say
Good luck to anyone who attempts to get through to the Council's maintenance section, Haley's comet comes round more often than the phone gets answered
By The Borg @ 23/09/2009 13:35:28