Residents in a Nottinghamshire town have expressed their concern over the condition of the roads after a large sinkhole formed a fortnight ago. On Tuesday, April 18, a sinkhole appeared on Queen's Road in Newark, causing part of the road to remain closed weeks later and a diversion to be in place whilst repairs are underway.
The section of the road between Lovers Lane roundabout and North Gate has been blocked off for repairs but it appears the main hole itself has been filled. In addition to various closed road and closed footpath signs, a sign stating deep excavations has also been placed at the site.
However, residents in the town say they are not surprised that a sinkhole has been formed and expressed concern over the condition of the roads and footpaths in and around Newark. When asked about her thoughts on the roads, Newark resident, Joanna Starbuck, 56, said: "They are horrible, there are potholes everywhere."
Speaking about the sinkhole road closure, she continued: "I'm not really affected as I don't drive, I normally walk but they have shut down the paths in some places and you have to go on the road. I'm not really surprised it happened, as it happened somewhere else in the town."
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An 84 year old who did not wish to be named has also shared her concerns about the footpaths and roads. She said: "I've been away from Newark for 40 years and I was married here and raised the children here and I come back and I think the footpaths are just dreadful for someone like me.
"I'm 84 years old and I'm having to life my trolley up over the paths here because they're awful. I don't know what's wrong with Newark, they have totally neglected some parts, like the footpath around the church. It's absolutely awful and if you had the time to walk around you can see there's pieces missing from the roads and paths, it's up to drivers to complain about the roads.
"The paths are dreadful for older people like myself and for people with prams." Regarding the sinkhole, a 25 year old man from Balderton who did not wish to ne named stated: "It's a bit of a pain but at least they are fixing it, most potholes seem to stay for ages with a yellow ring around them and nothing is done.
"I suppose this one had to be sorted with the size of it. I've just been driving a different route since it happened, but it doesn't take me any longer."
A spokesperson for the County Council said: "Works are ongoing together with Severn Trent Water to repair the collapse of the carriageway on Queen’s Road in Newark.
“Whilst we understand resident and road users’ frustration with the disruption caused, we’ve taken the opportunity to accelerate other works in the area so improvements can be made whilst the road is closed, minimising any future impact to those travelling in the area.
“This includes investigating other defects in the area, bringing forward resurfacing on Queen’s Road and King’s Road and undertaking cleansing of gullies and highways drainage.
“We’ve also liaised with CityFibre to bring forward the installation of their network on Queen Street and are actively considering what other works can be completed whilst the enforced closure is in place.
“More widely, we’re continuing to deliver large-scale surface repairs to a significant number of roads and pavements across Nottinghamshire, with over 300 individual road, footway and drainage schemes planned across the county for the year ahead.
“This is in addition to the works delivered by our mechanised patching teams who have made large-scale improvements to hundreds of roads in Nottinghamshire over the past year, as part of our continuing plan to improve the county’s roads.”
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