Repairs begins on problem potholes

Wednesday 27th January 2010, 11:30AM GMT.

Repairs begins on problem potholes

Work is under way to find and fill in problem potholes in the Black Country, which have worsened during this month’s big freeze.

The region’s roads have taken a battering thanks to ice and snow and councils have vowed to tackle the problem – much to the relief of the many motorists who have been left out of pocket because of car damage.

Workers were out on the A454 The Keyway in Willenhall yesterday to fill in a pothole which had caused damage to at least two cars in the space of just a few minutes.

Eral Anderson, of Ettingshall, Wolverhampton, regularly drives along the Keyway to visit his girlfriend who lives in Willenhall. He was travelling along the road on Monday night when his front left tyre hit the pothole. He said his wheel buckled and his alloy was dented- causing £350 of damage to his Mazda RX8.

Mr Anderson, captain of Wolverhampton Rugby Club, said he had seen the same thing happen to another driver just moments earlier.

The 36-year-old said: “Thankfully, I was only going about 40 mph. Any faster and the damage could have been a lot worse.

“My car started veering to the left.”

He added: “Five yards in front of me there was a lady who did exactly the same thing. Her left front wheel had also buckled.”

Mr Anderson reported the problem to Walsall Council that evening and the crumbling pot hole was filled in the next day.

Glyn Oliver, Walsall Council service manager for traffic and transportation, said: “We were notified about this pothole on Monday and arranged for it to be infilled as quickly as possible and this work took place on Tuesday morning.”

More than 100 potholes will be filled in on roads in the Walsall borough as a hit squad from contractors Tarmac get to work and the Black Country Route and the Keyway had already been identified as one of the worst-hit roads.

Councils across the Black Country and Staffordshire admitted the cold snap had caused more damage to roads.

The A4124 Wednesfield Road, between the city centre and New Cross Hospital, had crumbled badly during the big freeze.


  1. 1
    Martacus Red

    I hope Walsall council take a trip down Walstead Road which runs up to Bell Bridge from & to the Yew Tree Estate. I’ve seen old dart boards with less holes than that stretch of road. One of these days, when Hell freezes over, they might even get round to a proper resurfacing job.
    The Roads a disgrace, although I suppose it sums up well Walsall Council.

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    • jj

      Well go on the Walsall council website and report them then. Once it has been reported then the council are legally liable to damage caused from them if they choose to ignore it.
      If the pothole is bad enough I bet they’ll be filled in by the next day.

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  2. 2
    Tom

    You can’t keep just patching up roads and hoping that they will last. The majority of roads in the Black Country need re-laying as they are in a terrible state of repair.

    Where does all of the road tax money go?

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  3. 3
    Rob H

    Well I cycled to work this morning as usual and noticed the bus lane up into Wolverhampton had all the potholes filled in…obviously a couple of grand spent now saves bucketloads on compensation to drivers who would sue(mind you if they were in the bus lane they can’t sue as thats a £60 fine).

    Money well spent by the council…although the road is uneven…now can they please do something about the Birmingham New Road round by the old Black Horse pub????

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  4. 4
    David

    Where does all of the road tax money go?

    Good question. A fair amount goes on educashun, the money pit that is the NHS, hundreds of unaccountable quangos and a fair bit goes into ‘Europe’.

    Then there’s the 1 million non-jobs that Labour have created since arriving in office which they used to crow about having created the highest levels of employment, without mentioning it was via jobs that they invented.

    1 million people earning say £25k pa (probably more in the civil service) costing us around £25bn per year.

    13 years of tax and spend.

    That’s where the money for pot holes has gone.

    Isn’t it about time you questioned where your hard earned taxes are spent?

    Report abuse

    • Tom

      Giving aid to other countries more than likely. Seriously, we can’t keep running to every drama in the world, let other countries do their bit too. We’re not the mighty power we used to be.

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  5. 5
    Andy

    I agree with all that there is a problem with the potholes.
    Nice to see that the holes in the Wolverhampton Road in Wednesfield / Heath Town have been filled but it is a mess. It had more holes than a sive and in my best opinion needed a resurfacing job which would last longer and be better to motorists.

    Councils are Cowboys when it comes to potholes as they are patching the holes but not applying Bitumen Sealant around the edges like they used to a few years ago.

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  6. 6
    wolves

    the pot holes should have been reported by like south staffs they have a specialist teams looking at the road surface and they drive up and down there roads why carnt we do the same but if it caursed damage two my car isnt it the council falut in duty of care two the road user that the road isnt condemed sorry bad spell

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