Road riddled with potholes to be fixed after criticism

POTHOLES in a road between Binfield Heath and Harpsden are finally set to be fixed.

Residents have complained for months about the road between the Bottle & Glass pub and Chalk Hill being in a “state of disrepair”.

There are dozens of potholes along the road, with the majority between 4in and 10in deep. The biggest is estimated to be about 4ft deep.

The defects were reported to the Fix My Street website in December following incidents of drivers and cyclists having to swerve to avoid them.

Oxfordshire County Council, the highways authority, has now scheduled repairs to take place next month.

Andrew Chesters, of Common Lane, is upset that it has taken so long for repairs to take place.

Mr Chesters, 59, has had to replace four tyres in the last 18 months due to the poor state of the roads in the area. He has also been using an alternative route via Reading Road to get to Henley to avoid the road, which increases his journey time and fuel costs.

Mr Chesters, who is the managing director of Henley Food & Drink, said: “I can’t remember the road being a good road. Surely, enough is enough. I believe we’re right on the borderline of the two counties. It’s almost like they get to us last and they don’t really want to do it.

“The road has claimed a number of tyres and there are dangers, not just from hitting the potholes but from other cars who are swerving to avoid them. It’s a 60mph limit, which is ridiculous on that road, and drivers can swerve at the last minute, which causes you to break or move into the hedge.

“We have got potholes on bends so, as you come around the bend, it’s too late to see it unless you know the road really well. You also have pedestrians walking dogs and also cyclists who are doing everything they can to avoid the potholes and they are particularly vulnerable.

“I had a cyclist come towards me and, at the very last minute, swerved to avoid a pothole that they had seen at the last minute so I slammed on the brakes really hard to come to a full, safe stop. It's a nightmare.”

Mark Dodson, 50, of Shiplake Row, said he hasn’t seen effective repairs in the 13 years he’s lived in the area. He uses the road to get to Gillotts School to take his children Dylan, 16, and Lucas, 13, to clubs.

Mr Dodson, a software developer, said: “It's almost like a cart track. It feels like it hasn't had any work on it. In the time I’ve lived here, I don't remember anything being patched up effectively.

“If we’re going to Gillotts School, we will often brave that road just because the alternative route is such a long way around. I think of it as a road to avoid.

“If you are going past the Bottle & Glass, about half-a-mile up the road, there's a point where you get to a group of houses and there's a kink in the road. It's really a blind corner where it is quite tight. Just on that corner there are maybe five to 10 potholes.”

Rick Wolski, who lives in Binfield Heath, said the conditions of the road are progressively getting worse as a result of flooding and frosts.

He said: “The road is incredibly bad — the potholes are very, very dangerous. Around the bends, the vegetation is now encroaching on the road and people bomb around those roads as a rat run.

“They use it as a shortcut from Emmer Green to Henley and the state of the roads and the vegetation is essentially turning it into a single lane carriageway. If it was managed better, it could be much more passable in areas.

“On top of it all, when it gets flooded, you can't see the potholes and in areas it just gets completely flooded where again people stop in the middle of the road.

“It's progressively getting worse with each month. With each rain, each frost, it's not just suddenly got worse it has for years.

“On a wider road, you can avoid the potholes and you can see what's coming but on this particular road, it's so narrow and winding that when people swerve to avoid a pothole, or a branch, you are practically coming into the middle of the road on a blind bend. It’s dangerous.”

A spokesman for the county council said highways inspectors raised defects along the length of the road in early January.

He said: “We aim to complete these repairs by February 20. There is also a structural patching scheme programmed for this financial year for Chalk Hill and a further scheme for the section from the pub to Chalk Hill, with no date set yet.”