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New road quality questioned

Editor, The Record:

Last week I began to read with interest and a growing sense of satisfaction about the council statement concerning the repairs to the newly re-surfaced Cedar Street.

Sadly, my hopes were dashed when it became clear that the section of Cedar being talked about was that situated south of the Cherry Avenue intersection. It is good to hear that the contractor is being brought to book for the poor finish of that section of the road.

I would, however, be very interested to hear or read an assessment of the section north of Cherry, which I have alluded to at an earlier date in this newspaper.

Currently, the road is chronically uneven between Cherry and Tunbridge despite being only a few months old. Drain access covers are either standing above the road surface or sunk into it — both of which not only pose potential hazards but will also require repair within the foreseeable future. Areas of broken up asphalt (already!) have been marked in a number of spots on this brand new surface. The intersections with Cherry, Egglestone and Tunbridge have the appearance of being unfinished and are likewise extremely uneven.

There are other cosmetic issues which smack of a slapdash approach to the overall project, however, for the sake of brevity I am limiting my observations today to obvious safety concerns.

Unless we hear differently, I assuming that this was a publicly funded project. I believe we are entitled to a proper standard of work and a new road surface which is flat and hazard-free. Right now we don’t have that, and I would very much like to hear what council staff have to say about this project and whether the contractor is going to be held to a reasonable standard.

We’re all used to poor road surfaces around the city, but when a brand new road is manufactured to these dismal standards, surely after nine or 10 months from the start of the project the contractor should by now have made this right?

Leo Simmons

Mission