Road repairs ‘a priority’ amid complaints of ‘horrendous journeys’

Road repairs in Newport are a “priority” issue for the city council and will be addressed in the new budget, the authority’s leader has vowed.

Cllr Dimitri Batrouni said the condition of the city’s roads was “a hot topic on social media” and the new budget “will recognise that pressure”.

He defended the council’s recent resurfacing work, telling a council meeting on Wednesday that the £6.6 million invested this financial year was the highest spending in a decade.

The leader said the council had so far resurfaced 20 roads, but conceded many others had been “weakened” by winter weather conditions.

“Do we need more? Absolutely,” he said. “We are resolute [and] the roads are a priority.”

Cllr Mark Howells said residents in the Lliswerry ward “continue to raise serious concerns about the condition of Somerton Road, Cromwell Road and Corporation Road, all of which serve schools, bus routes, pedestrian crossings and high footfall areas”.

He asked where the roads were placed on a priority list for repairs.

Cllr Batrouni said he had driven along Cromwell Road earlier that day and “I know how bad it is – I can understand residents’ fury”.

He said repair scheduling could depend on subcontractors’ availability, but assured the Lliswerry representative “those roads are on the priority list”.

Cllr Howells also asked the authority’s leader to put to bed constituents’ concerns that repairs could be prioritised based on the political parties of their local representatives.

“I’m not making that claim, but that’s a claim our constituents have made directly to us – that they’re suffering as a result of being an independent ward,” he said.

“I can happily say that on the record,” replied Cllr Batrouni. “The officers and cabinet member are meticulous about making sure it’s depoliticised.”

Bishton and Langstone councillor Will Routley said his constituents faced “horrendous” journeys through the ward’s lanes, which he claimed had “moved past the point of pathetic patch-and-mend repairs”.

The cabinet member responsible for roads, Cllr Rhian Howells, said the ward’s Whitebrook Lane and Gilfach Lane were resurfaced earlier in the financial year, and the A48 Chepstow Road “crucially also received surface treatment works”.

She added officers were “assessing damage caused by the recent cold spell across the city”, and “day-to-day repair work carries on” alongside the resurfacing programme.

Responding to Cllr Routley’s criticisms of the council’s record, Cllr Howells said it was “impossible to undo 14 years of underfunding from Westminster in 18 months”.

The £6.6 million investment this year “means 55 roads across the city have been or will be resurfaced”, she added.

Cllr Matthew Evans raised concerns about the timeframe to replace damaged street signs, claiming one sign he reported last March had still not been fixed.

Cllr Howells said she would look into the matter, and added the council had cleared “almost half” of a maintenance backlog by replacing 175 signs this year.