'Abergele pot hole plague is damaging my vehicle'

Jun 3 2010 by Ian Hughes, North Wales Weekly News

Abergele pot hole plague is damaging my vehicle

IT’S only a matter of time before vehicles are seriously damaged by pot holes on an Abergele road, according to one resident.

Jeff Page, who lives on the Maes Canol estate, believes the road has needed work done for far too long.

He fears his vehicle is starting to feel the wear and tear of poorly maintained highways.

“The suspension on my car has started to creak. I’ve not been to a garage yet but there’s no knowing how much it would cost,” he said.

“Work desperately needs doing on the whole estate, it’s been bad for about 18 months.

“There is work going on at the moment but that appears to only be on a small part of the road.”

Mr Page added that the recent bad winter only served to make things worse. A high volume of traffic is also a big problem.

“Every now and then the pot hole fairy pops up and does a little bit of work. The road looks like a patchwork quilt!” he joked.

“We have three schools in the area which bring a lot of traffic in the morning and afternoon. It is also used as a shortcut by people from the A55. We even get lorries driving past and the Tarmac can’t cope with the wear and tear.”

He added: “It is being used as an A road, not a C road.”

Abergele councillor Sam Rowlands has written to the highways department of Conwy County Council. He is yet to receive a definite answer from authorities.

“Maes Canol in Abergele is absolutely atrocious at the moment and with four schools on or near the estate I am worried that cars will be damaged,” he said.

“People have been trying to get something done for some time now. I have had letters from local residents complaining about the roads, and some suggest the reason their cars have been damaged is because of the regularity of pot holes.

“What I think would be worthwhile is a long term approach to repairing our roads by resurfacing rather than continual pot hole filling.”

He claimed that although he knows the highways budget is limited, if left, he worries what the condition of the roads will be like in the future.