Highways backlog keeps growing

For months and months now I’ve been fighting a losing battle to get a stack of Highways orientated jobs done. Many of them are simply signs…. some are less important but a number could have serious safety implications and have been outstanding for far too long.

So, why aren’t the jobs being done? It’s certainly not through lack of trying by the Highways guys locally. They just don’t seem to have the staff or resources to do the work. I decided to go public this week because of my sheer frustration and I made sure the problem was highlighted in half a dozen or so local newspapers.

There are now nine parish council areas in my patch that have been waiting for work to be carried out by County Highways for between one and two years. At Hopwas the long awaited more visible HGV restriction signs are now, apparently, about to be fitted. First promised over 12 months ago the problem of heavy lorries ignoring the restrictions in the village is growing.

When I arranged for the Police and Highways to do some enforcement work way back last year, some HGV drivers claimed they hadn’t seen the current restriction signs. Well, whether they had or hadn’t, that potential excuse needs removing.

Very serious is the failure to provide the warning signs outside the primary school in Drayton Bassett. Nearly two years ago the County decided to scrap the school crossing patrol there. After much lobbying to the County by the Parish Council and Charlie McEwan, the local district councillor, they got agreement for new warning signage by the school to try and mitigate the crossing patrol cuts. They still, however, have not been installed.

So, it’s a mess. The Highways guys are trying to keep all the balls in the air but Labour at Stafford just aren’t giving them the tools or resources to do the job. I shall be bringing this issue up in a formal question to the Highways Cabinet Member next Friday in the hope this can be sorted out, at least for the moment. That said, I understand the Highways budget is again under threat of cuts because of County Labour’s growing financial crisis!

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