‘I give the National Highways 4/10 for their performance so far,’ says Mr Pothole after A5 repairs

After a large amount of reports had been made to the Fix My Street and to National Highways about dangerous potholes along the stretch of A5 from Towcester to Stony Stratford, there has been some action.

As stated by the National Highways, they are undertaking out additional inspections and carrying out any temporary repairs as necessary until the work for next year is planned, but the road is still causing many concerns after some work has been carried out.

Uneven road surface signs and speed restrictions have been erected to warn motorists and some of the larger potholes have had some filling in over the past week.

The damage that has been caused to vehicles on the A5 had been increasing. Becca Petzing, motorist on the A5 said: “ I have had a chunk out of my tyre because of them! We are fuming!” and Terry Pascoe, another motorist caught by the potholes said: “I've front suspension that needs replacing due to the road.”

An A5 Towcester to Stony Stratford Improvements Group has now been set up on Facebook for those who would like to keep updated.

Mark Morrell, Mr Pothole said to the Chronicle and Echo: “ I give the National Highways 4/10 for their performance on the A5 so far. It's good that they did listen about what was needed immediately with additional signs, speed reduction and temporary repairs. However, it is clearly not enough given the failure of the carriageway over large sections. Some of the defects that weren't as bad before Christmas are getting worse. The volume of rain and traffic yesterday due to the M1 closure meant the A5 was extremely busy so let's hope National Highways are coming back soon to carry out more works. Not until large sections of full width carriageway are resurfaced it will continue to be an ongoing hazard to road users.”

Christopher Church, Towcester resident contacted MP Andrea Leadsom with a request for action and had a positive response in reply. Cllr Leadsom said: “I’m grateful for you for bringing this important issue to my attention and entirely appreciate what you say about the impact the local residents encounter with these potholes.

“I have written to Mr Nick Harris chief executive of the National Highways calling for an urgent review of the important issues you raised.”

The previous comment from Karen Moore National Highways programme development manager, said: “We are aware of the deterioration of the A5 road surface in this area and have just completed a carriageway survey which will now be used to plan works next year.

“In the meantime, our inspectors are checking the route at least twice a week and any temporary repairs are carried out as necessary.

“We know that good quality roads are important to the millions of drivers that use our network each day. Safety is also our primary concern and we set stringent standards for pothole repairs on our roads.”

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