Issues surface with works carried out on A34 Wilmslow bypass

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Cheshire East Council has admitted there are issues on a number of roads with the work carried out to prevent water from getting in.

Routine inspections revealed a problem with surface dressing works completed last year along the A34 Maclean Way/ Birrell Way in Wilmslow, the A500 Shavington Bypass, the A49 Whitchurch Road, the A54 Buxton Road, and the A533 London Road/ Middlewich Road in Sandbach.

Councillor Mark Goldsmith, chair of Cheshire East Council's highways and transport committee, said: "The treatment carried out on these roads, which is used widely by councils across the country, helps to seal the road and prevent water from getting in.

"Over the past few years, almost 609,000 sqm of this treatment has been laid in Cheshire East and we have not experienced issues like this in the borough before. Of this, just under 26,000 sqm has been affected by these issues (around 11 per cent of the 231,000 sqm delivered last year).

"In most cases, including with the A500, only a section of the road is affected and not the full length of where works were carried out.

The Council is working with the contractor responsible for the works to understand the cause and an investigation is being carried out.

Councillor Mark Goldsmith added "There are no safety concerns with the roads, but we of course want to ensure the works are up to the standards we expect from a treatment of this type and are planning to carry out further improvement works when the weather is more suitable. We currently expect this to be during May.

"These works will be carried out at no extra cost to the council.

We apologise for any inconvenience or concern caused and would like to reassure our residents that we are committed to managing the impact of these works and ensuring our roads are safe.

"Since being made aware of the issues, we have been carrying out regular monitoring and inspection of each road, along with regular sweeping to remove any excess chippings from the road."

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Comments

Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.

Steven Mccrory
Wednesday 26th February 2025 at 3:39 pm
There are issue, endless stone chips to vehicles, cheap jobs are cheap fixes and dangerous. The WHOLE road network is now full off POT HOLES, repaired as and when serious then needs repairing yet again endless. CE are bankrupt complete waste of space... Wasting money on useless tree hugging unused projects.
Its simply unacceptable.
Paul Wardle
Wednesday 26th February 2025 at 3:53 pm
Contractor who did this work still has many years on their contract with Cheshire East?!! Not only should this defective work be sorted immediately, they ought to pay damages for the disruption to the local area that further work will bring.
Peter Hallmark
Thursday 27th February 2025 at 9:44 am
I haven't used the bypass for over 3 months now after getting a chip in my windscreen from the degraded road surface. A car overtook, probably speeding, and flicked a stone up. It does take longer going down the original A34 but it is safer for my car. Please keep us updated on it being resurfaced so I can use it again.
Jon Williams
Thursday 27th February 2025 at 11:04 am
Time to get rid under "Breach of contract" occurs when one party fails to fulfill the terms of a binding agreement. It can range from minor violations to more serious
David Hadfield
Monday 3rd March 2025 at 4:20 pm
No matter what excuses are made by the Council, the roads around here are an absolute disgrace and not even worthy of a third-world country.
The Councillors responsible for the maintenance of our roads should hang their heads in shame ... They're a total and utter disgrace !

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