Pothole Watch: North Yorkshire County Council responds to residents' concerns over 'dangerous' and deteriorating Green Lane in Scarborough

The Scarborough News recently asked readers which road in Scarborough is the worst for potholes, and Green Lane was mentioned the most.

Last year, the Department for Transport announced that North Yorkshire would receive £37 million for road maintenance, including £16.5 million for potholes for the 2021-22 financial year.

It reflected a 25 per cent cut compared to the previous financial year. Since then, no permanent road repair has been carried out on Green Lane.

Barrie Mason, North Yorkshire County Concil's Assistant Director for Highways and Transportation, said: "We have received Government funding to carry out resurfacing work on Green Lane later this year. We will keep the public updated when we have the final details.

"Keeping our roads in the best condition for the money that we have available is one of our biggest priorities, as well as challenges we face. We have an annual highways maintenance budget of around £55 million which covers planned maintenance programmes as well as responding to problems as they arise.

"All reported potholes are inspected and, where necessary, promptly repaired based on the level of risk they present to road users. We welcome reports from the public and encourage anyone who sees a pothole or other carriageway defect to use our online reporting system."

'They just patch it and patch it'

The residents in the area are the ones who face the problem daily and have to deal with damage to their vehicles as a result of the potholes.

Resident John Sheader said: "It's bad. They have filled some potholes in but it was terrible. I only live on the next street, and it is a bad road. It's terrible on your wheels, suspension. I've had a few springs go on my van, when you've got a bit of weight in the back or your tools it can make a huge difference.

When Mr Sheader was asked for his thoughts on North Yorkshire County Council saying they will fix Green Lane this year, he said: "It needs to be fixed sooner rather than later, another winter and it's not going to be in any fit state. They've patched it and patched it, but they only seem to repair roads that people are going to see."

North Yorkshire County Council is responsible for repairing roads across the county, and not Scarborough Borough Council.

On the North Yorkshire County Council’s website, it says the priority of road repairs is based on a number of factors including the depth, size and location of the pothole on the road; the volume of traffic; and the speed of the road.

'It just baffles me'

Newby ward councillor Neil Heritage said: "As a borough councillor, it's not in our remit. I've had numerous reports of potholes which I've reported and they have been filled in, but as you can see from the state of the road, there are potholes on top of potholes.

"Believe it or not, the double yellow lines were actually painted two years ago but they're none existent now because they've been tarmacked on top of. There's a zebra crossing too and you can't see the white of the crossing, surely that's dangerous?

"It's interesting to see that even people who aren't from Green Lane know about the potholes.

"The furthest I've got with it as a borough councillor is I got in touch with someone at North Yorkshire County Council who said they'd have to put it up the priority list, and this was March last year and obviously we're still waiting.

"Even when they did do these double yellow lines, you get seasick looking at them. They were that wobbly, and there was a misprint on one of the road signs.

"All the roads off here have been tarmacked, there was no desperate need for it. The main transit through here hasn't been tarmacked, so it just baffles me."