Road chaos as newly laid routes crumble

The highways contractor is carrying out remedial resurfacing work on a number of roads in Scarborough, including Scalby Road, Woodlands Ravine, Albemarle Crescent and a junction of the A64 Seamer Road.

Many of the routes will be closed while the works take place in phases from tomorrow and over the coming fortnight.

North Yorkshire County Council, which last year took control of the highways network in Scarborough and Harrogate, has stressed the work is being carried out at the expense of the contractor because the initial resurfacing works, undertaken in 2010, had failed.

The problems became apparent soon after but the county council agreed with the contractor to monitor the failure last winter before deciding on the final extent of the remedial work.

Coun Gareth Dadd, North Yorkshire’s executive member for highways, said: “We appreciate these remedial works mean greater inconvenience for people, but as the highways authority we have to make sure that highway maintenance is carried out to the highest standards and these repair works will be done at no cost to North Yorkshire County Council.”

A Labour Party report last year surveyed 111 local authorities across England responsible for road maintenance.

It claimed North Yorkshire County Council was one of the five worst. It estimated that £400m would have to be spent to bring the roads up to the highest standards.

North Yorkshire County Council has said due to the Arctic winters over the past few years and swingeing public sector cuts, it was having to prioritise and divert funds from elsewhere to maintain the network as best it could.