Dear Editor,
I am writing to express my deep concerns regarding the worsening state of our local roads, an issue that is becoming increasingly hazardous for motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians alike.
While much attention is rightly given to the epidemic of potholes in the area and the inadequate temporary surface dressing used to ‘repair’ them, I wish to highlight an equally pressing matter: the ongoing deterioration of manhole covers and their surrounding road surface.
I have personally observed multiple manhole covers that are not securely fitted, causing them to emit loud ‘bangs’ every time a vehicle passes over them.
In addition, the area surrounding many of these covers is crumbling, in some instances exposing the underlying subbase aggregate.
This presents not only a noise nuisance but also a severe safety risk – if these access points were to cave in, the consequences could be catastrophic.
I actively report road defects through Cheshire East Council’s FixMyStreet website, yet I fear that this perfect storm of potholes and failing manhole covers is creating a situation where vehicle damage and even accidents become inevitable.
The impact on road users, from increased repair costs to the potential for serious injury, cannot be overstated.
With Cheshire East Council teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, I am gravely concerned that essential road maintenance and repairs will suffer even further. Road safety should not be compromised due to financial constraints.
I urge Nantwich News to investigate and bring greater attention to this issue, holding those responsible accountable and advocating for urgent and lasting repairs.
Thank you for your time and for your continued coverage of local issues that matter to residents.
Regards
Jonathan White
Wistaston
Manhole covers need reporting to the service provider as it’s their responsibility to make sure they are secure, and those saying it labour seems to forget it’s 15 years of Tory underfunding that’s caused the pothole problem
Yet further evidence of incompetence by Cheshire East Council. It cost my brother £1200 for 4 new run flat tyres on his four wheel drive vehicle. He was driving back to Worcester from Nantwich when he hit a pot hole between Nantwich and Whitchurch.
Nationally the estimated costs of pot hole damage to vehicles is 500 million a year. Cheshire East fail to get the basics right. The only philosophy in management that really counts is results, words are words, actions are actions and results are everything.
Pot holes are sadly not fixed to last, you see this year after year. Pot holes return from year to year in the same locations.
Do the job correctly first time will save money?
Labour control in action
The appalling state of the roads around Crewe& Nantwich is just a further symptom of the failure of Cheshire East to manage highway repair work generally. There does not appear to be any plan other than sporadic attempts to fill in the worst of the potholes which is done in such a poor fashion that they re-appear very soon afterwards. Regular road closures for no obvious reason with little attempt to sign diversions. And the surface dressing disaster on the Shavington by-pass tells its own story. Are there actually any qualified people involved in the ‘planning’ of these works?
A recent item on grant funding to CEC for road repairs.
2021/22 £5,799 million Expenditure £2,664 million
2022/23 £5.799 m Exp £2,086 million
2023/24 £8,118 m Exp not published
The grants for previous years were much lower.