03/30/2024

Wales News Online

Local & National News for Wales

Clawddnewydd village residents win fight for road improvements

RESIDENTS of a small Denbighshire village have won a battle to see improvements to a “dangerous” road “littered with potholes”.

People living in Clawddnewydd have been lobbying their local authority about the state of the B5105, with some claiming the road has been a problem for the last four years.

They say temporary repairs have not been good enough, only lasting “a week or so”, and want the road completely resurfaced.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) contacted Denbighshire council after receiving numerous complaints about the state of the carriageway from the village’s residents.

These included claims of damaged car suspensions, broken wheels, tyre blowouts and numerous bills for wheel re-alignment which they say was caused by the road’s poor condition.

One resident, who didn’t want to be named, said:

“The state of the B5105 is now bordering on unbelievable. Our repeated complaints, letters and reports via the Denbighshire council pothole portal have been systematically ignored.

“To drive along the road now involves driving dangerously slow and having to veer into the wrong lane to avoid causing permanent damage to your vehicle, often on bends, driving into the path of oncoming traffic.

“Beyond the thousands of pounds it’s cost the local community in car damage, this matter is now seriously dangerous.

“If a motorbike or road bike hit one of the holes, I fear it would be fatal. The most we have had from the council is temporary fill jobs which last no more than a week.

“Quite simply, the entire road from Ruthin to Clawddnewydd must be completely relaid, or there will be lives lost.”

Many residents said claims to the council for repairs they say were caused by the state of the road have remained unsettled.

Neil Dalleywater told the LDRS he had “bookmarked DDC’s pothole page on my computer now as I’m a regular visitor”.

He said a claim for damage to his Landrover’s alloy wheel last March was dismissed by the council’s insurer because, it said, the authority “maintained the road sufficiently”.

He added: “I’ve lost count of the number of people who have had their wheels and suspension damaged and so far not one has managed to make a successful claim.”

Pictures sent in by residents show deep fissures in some parts of the carriageway between Ruthin and Clawddnewydd.

Resident Oliver Bean said:

“The road is dangerously littered with many large and deep potholes in a number of places.

“They are occasionally refilled with tarmac by the council, a repair which typically lasts a week or so.

“Personally I’ve had two alloy wheels cracked so badly they couldn’t be repaired and I’ve had to buy a completely new set for my car. I know I am not alone in this.”

He said he also recently found a young female driver stranded near a bend on the route, after hitting a pothole and suffering a blown-out tyre.

He added: “It’s extremely dangerous. The road has been neglected by the council for years. It’s only a matter of time until someone has a very serious accident.”

Temporary pothole repairs were supposed to be taking place in the week commencing January 25, according to the council’s repair portal, but villagers claimed there had been no action.

However, after the LDRS contacted the authority on Monday this week, three trucks were dispatched to fill the damaged areas with tarmac on Wednesday.

A spokesman for Denbighshire county council confirmed the section of the B5105 from Llanfwrog towards Clawddnewydd would be resurfaced in the next financial year (2020-21).

He added:

“Currently we are assessing what work is needed to ensure the best long-term solution and bring the road back to a good condition.

“We have been using trial holes to determine the strength of the existing carriageway and this will determine the depth of the required new pavement layer.

“We are aiming to carry out work as soon as possible but over the next two days, we will have teams working on the hill to carry out temporary repairs to ensure the surface is in a safe condition as an interim measure.

“We will continue to monitor the position and undertake further work, should this prove necessary, prior to the resurfacing taking place.”

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