An urgent review has been called for after it was revealed that up to 20 roads resurfaced across Southport last year have already started to break up.
Cllr David Barton said that the number of failures, out of a total of 25 roads which underwent re-surfacing work was unacceptable and was causing problems for motorists across the Borough.
He said it was vital that Sefton Council continued to work closely with the contractor and its materials laboratory to try and determine the reason for the premature failures.
He said that the cause of the problems had to be established as a matter of urgency and a review carried out to discover why the failings were allowed to occur and prevent anything similar happening again.
Cllr Barton, who represents Dukes Ward on Sefton Council, said roads affected included Kenilworth Road, Ainsdale, Fylde Road and Botanic Road, Churchtown and Town Lane.
He said: “Up to 20 roads resurfaced in 2016 have shown premature failure. Although I am pleased to say that this is being acted upon, there is a major issue with loose chippings and people have reported damage to their cars.
“Remedial work cannot commence until May at the earliest as the materials used are weather and temperature dependant. In the interim the contractor is undertaking regular mechanical sweeping of the roads to remove excess chippings. Where applicable loose chipping signs have also been re-erected until the remedial work can commence.
“But clearly we need to get to the bottom of this issue as soon as possible and a review of the whole situation is urgently required.”
Cllr Barton originally raised the issue of road resurfacing more than two years ago and the roads he highlighted, namely Weld Road and Lulworth Road/ Waterloo Road, have since been repaired impeccably, benefitting both local residents and commuters.
He raised the issue of loose chipping again in 2015 and areas including town centre roads such as Lord Street, Birkdale and residential roads including Westbourne Road, etc have been swept after being highlighted by Cllr Barton, at no cost to the council. Last Summer 2016 the Lord Street refuge islands were also swept clean once again at his request.
He said: “I understand that the Council has no concerns over the competence of the Contractor. There are only a few specialist contractors across the country who carry out the application of carriageway surface dressing and the council has successfully worked with this company over a number of years and currently has a long term contract with them.
Cllr Barton said: “Any remedial works required will be completed at the contractor’s own expense and not the Council’s but the root underlying cause for the premature failures must be identified as soon as possible for the benefit of everyone in Southport.”
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