Pothole patrols out in force across Bognor

Extra pothole patrols are being staged around Bognor Regis to stop roads deteriorating further.

Two new road gangs of three workers started work this weekalongside the previous 11 gangs in the highways western area of the county.

Their arrival will boost the efforts of highways officials to bring roads back to an acceptable standard.

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Since Christmas, area highways manager Tracey Webb said she estimated 2,400 potholes had been filled in around Bognor, Chichester and Midhurst. She estimated another 700 were still to be tackled.

Only about eight per cent of the potholes were in Bognor. Roads north of Chichester were far more badly affected with more than half the total number of potholes.

The extent of the damaged road surfaces, reported in the Observer recently, is already leading to a surge in claims against the county council.

She told councillors on the Joint Western Arun Area Committee that 500 claims for damages had been received in January and February alone compared to 480 for all last year.

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She admitted the road quality was appalling in places and acknowledged the bad condition of many of the surfaces.

But she said efforts were being made to create smoother rides, though it would take time to catch up on a backlog of neglected sites.

"I have an action programme which is five pages long. My perception is that, in the past week, we have started to make some headway. There are not so many deep holes out there," she said.

She said the repairs being carried out were temporary to get rid of holes up to 100mm deep.

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"They are not very good jobs, but they do stop people having serious problems," she stated. "They give us a bit of time.

The short-term repairs are then followed by proper 'hot patch' work using tar to create a more permanent surface.

An extra 750,000 was being put into highways maintenance next year on top of the 11.2m scheduled budget.

"There's a lot of work we need to do immediately to make the roads safe," she explained.

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"But we want to get back to a situation where we do maintenance ahead of time.

"Aldwick Street is a very good example of a road which has been left too long. It is now going to cost us a lot more to rectify that rather than just repair it."

Work on part of Aldwick Street is due to take place in April. The rest will follow soon after.

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