Paving Promises: Council’s Active Travel Commitments Dodging Potholes

B&NES Greens remain concerned about ongoing safety hazards on North Road, which continue to endanger cyclists, especially children commuting to school and university. Despite promises from B&NES Council, the road is still neglected, with deep potholes creating hazardous conditions.

The council has allocated a £3.6 million resurfacing budget for this year, covering 38 separate roads. While some of these, including North Road, have been scheduled around the school summer holidays to limit traffic disruption, the repeated delays and inaction on North Road are unacceptable. The council’s procrastination ignores the urgent need for safer roads for students cycling to Ralph Allen School and the University of Bath. This persistent postponement not only contradicts their commitment to active travel but also endangers vulnerable road users, showing a disregard for road safety.

Green Councillor Saskia Heijltjes adds, 

“In December 2023, a severe accident on North Road resulted in serious facial injuries to a cyclist, underscoring the urgent need to prioritise road safety and reduce pressures on local healthcare services. When a local parent queried Council Leader Cllr Kevin Guy about the timing of the resurfacing, he suggested that closing the route in term time would be impractical. Delaying resurfacing until the summer holidays prioritises driver convenience over the safety of vulnerable road users, which goes against the council’s commitment to promoting active travel.”

Despite repeated calls for urgent action from local parents, the Bicycle Mayor of Bath, and the Greens, the council has failed to provide clarity on when North Road was last resurfaced or when necessary repairs will be made. Historic asset information reveals that apart from a micro asphalt surface treatment in 2001 on a section of North Road in Bathwick, there are no other records indicating when the road was last resurfaced.

Green Party Leader, Councillor Joanna Wright, a former Cabinet Member for Transport, reiterated the group’s longstanding advocacy for immediate improvements to North Road’s active travel infrastructure and road safety: 

“We have consistently advocated for immediate improvements to North Road’s active travel infrastructure and road safety. The council’s inaction jeopardises the safety of our community.”

The Greens call on B&NES Council to prioritise the resurfacing of North Road without further delay. The safety of all residents, especially children cycling to school, must be ensured as a matter of urgency.

Letter to Chronicle 16th December 2023 -URGENT NEED TO REPAIR POTHOLES

Urgent Need to Repair Potholes

The irony of Cllr Manda Rigby tentatively promising that potholes will be fixed in a year’s time on North Road is not lost on the many cyclists who travel this well used route. Again we hear that a serious accident has taken place this week leaving a member of the public with serious facial injuries having to attend the RUH. This is a public health matter, costing our NHS precious resources.

The North Road route up to Ralph Allen School and the University of Bath is strategically an important active travel corridor that should be made fit for purpose and regularly resurfaced and kept safe.

In the letters page last week (16th December 2023) Elisabeth, from Bath shared the many experiences that her family had also endured on this route, including her son being knocked off his bike by King Edward School..

On the 24th November 2023, school children, students and worried parents came together on North Road, to demand that “B&NES Council Stops Pot Hole Danger” . As Ward Members for Lambridge we know that many young people on the east of Bath regularly use North Road to get to schools in the area and parents often contact us, worried for their safety.

We are concerned that Cllr Rigby’s promise, to resurface North Road in the next financial year, is too long to wait. The Council under her direction should be acting now to ensure that the public are kept safe on the public highways. All Councillors at B&NEs recently voted unanimously for Vision Zero, which states that every road crash is preventable. Kate Uzzell from Road Peace also spoke at this Council meeting and told of the tragic death of her husband, a confident cyclist of many years who hit a pothole and was killed.
How many other crashes need to take place before North Road has its potholes fixed?

Cllr Joanna Wright and Cllr Saskis Heijltjes