Cheshire motorists have been involved in potentially lethal collisions while trying to avoid potholes, the county’s police boss said today.
Police and Crime Commissioner John Dwyer issued the warning as he encouraged more people to report potholes to their local authorities.
He said he had heard from residents who had been involved in collisions because they had tried to avoided potholes.
Police and Crime Commissioner, John Dwyer said today: “It’s concerning to hear that the actions motorists are taking to avoid making contact with bad potholes can actually cause an even greater danger on our roads.
“While potholes aren’t a policing issue on their own, I encourage everyone to report them to their local council so they can gather the intelligence about where they are and come up with a solution to fix them.
“We all have a part to play in making Cheshire’s roads even safer.”
We have contacted Cheshire East Council for a response.
The roads around the borough have deteriorated once more over the winter months.
On the “Fix My Street” website, it shows a huge 210 pothole reports for Nantwich remain “open” (un-fixed) since November 2023.
Many are on the busy major routes around the town including the A530 Middlewich Road, A529 Audlem Road, the A51 and A500, and other main roads.
Each pothole reported on Fix My Street is sent to Cheshire East Council highways department.
The standard response from CEC says:
“Thank you for contacting Cheshire East Highways. We have logged your enquiry and passed it to a member of our team. Our teams are working hard to manage and respond to reports from members of the public.
“We are experiencing a high volume of enquiries and we will be prioritising those issues that present most risk to the travelling public. While we normally aim to provide you with a response within 20 working days, response times for all other reported issues may take longer than usual. Thank you for your patience.”
Residents can report potholes on the local authority websites below:
What is the point of ‘reporting’ anything as, when nothing gets acted upon. I reported speeding in the area I live and the person came out in high viz, so vehicles slowed down. Was informed, by law, they have to do that and all they are ‘going’ to do (allegedly) is undertake speed checks every so often. Yeah in high viz, so motorists slow down so, therefore, there isn’t an issue. Same with potholes, nothing will be done. What’s the point of reporting anything Police and Crime Commissioner John Dwyer.
I believe it is only a matter of time before a Cyclist or motorcyclist is killed on our appalling roads. While councillors continue to insist on 20mph zones and costly traffic calming measures. Cheshire east council has wasted a lot of money and currently the average motorist is paying the price for their ineptitude.
Police only detect 6% of crime….a record LOW.
Less thah 6% of potholes in #CheshireEast are repaired.
But don’t despair,
Labour run @CheshireEast have plenty of money to :-
Introduce 20 mph zones,
Introduce yet more traffic calming,
Introduce yet more cycle lanes, that are never used,
Introduce yet more one way systems and
Replace concrete footpaths with tarmac ones, as in Manor Way in Crewe.
“Reporting potholes to the council is about as effective as reporting crimes to the police.
They both know it’s their responsibility but do nothing about either.”
http://thenantwichnews.co.uk/2024/03/07/cheshire-police-chiefs-pothole-warning-amid-road-collisions/
How cost effective can it be to drive from pothole to pothole? They must waste half a day just sat in the wagon driving to each location. They need to target a road at a time and do ALL the holes on that stretch.
Maybe the Crime Commissioner could donate half his fat cheque to supporting the cause?
Though the local roads are in a terrible state and CEC are useless, I drive all over the UK with work and it’s the same pretty much everywhere…. In some cases even worse. Not defending CEC in any way, but the blame must be shared with our useless Government too!
As a motorcyclist the roads in Cheshire East are now beyond dangerous its only a matter of time before someone is seriously hurt or even worse . As for the repairs that are done a pot hole was filled right outside where I work within a few days the repair had completely failed . Its a pointless waste of the publics money bodging road repairs . Spend the publics money responsibly CE and repair roads properly.
CEC is a total waste of time, they will not pay for the damage caused by their lack of road repairs, and the CEC insurance will just ignore any claims that they receive from insurance companies, this makes them the uninsured road users. They cannot get any work done, as they are all WFH and there is no communication being done, the police need to bring charges when serious accidents are caused, as the ‘criminal road user’ What will everybody do when the elections arrive, will it make a difference if the idiots are not re-elected, or nobody is elected, will the car park guys do a worse job? CEC has had it’s day and they all need a big shock, maybe they should all take up living in the underground bunker, under the municipal extension, they might feel safe there!
Why do I need an MOT to say my car is fit for the road when the roads are not fit for cars?
If you tried to report all the potholes you would be here till the end of time,the reason this council waste so much money is there inability to use common sense, they repair the one hole that has been marked up for repair and leave the rest that are usually within a meter, then have to return again and again to the same area.
The roads need more than a bit of maintenance they require resurfacing due to years of neglect.
Cheshire West are no better. I reported a section of road which is more potholes than road. Their response – No action required. The road leads to the NeuroMuscular Centre in Winsford where they provide physiotherapy for patients with complex neurological conditions. It must be hell for the patients!
Reporting potholes to the council is about as effective as reporting crimes to the police. They both know it’s their responsibility but do nothing about either.
Beyond embarrassing, Cheshire East should be embarrassed and ashamed, couldn’t care less about the residents in and around Nantwich
WHts the point they either dont fix them or do such a poor job they just oen up again Dwyer would be better urging the government to give the council enough money to maintain the roads properly