Thursday, 8 August 2019 10:40 By Daniel Clark, Local Democracy Reporting Service Share on Facebook Share on Messenger Share on Messenger Share on X Share on Whatsapp Image: Rob Hannaford Tarmac is still wet and sticking to tyres Residents of St Thomas have reacted furiously to an awful resurfacing job done on two recent roads. Union Street and Church Road were resurfaced last week, but Cllr Rob Hannaford said that he has been inundated with a large number of complaints about the work that is ‘ruining motorists’ tyres’. He has demanded that Devon County Council get some remedial work done immediately and said that residents just feel ‘their council tax has been thrown away’. Cllr Hannaford said: “It’s clearly an awful resurfacing job, which has upset local residents in and around the area. Within days of completion, they have reacted furiously to the finish – which sees tarmac fly onto the pavement when cars go over it. “Furthermore some of the tarmac still seems to be unset and sticky, so it’s ruining people tyres and people are walking it into their houses. “People have also commented that overall the job has not been completed properly as large sections have been left partially undone. In several of the corners of the road, there is such a large dip in the road that drivers feel like they have hit the curb while reversing. “Local residents were pleased that after many years of lobbying the road was being finally upgraded, but they now feel that they have just thrown money away. “Their message to the County Council is clear – do it properly, spend the money and do it properly. It was bad before with the potholes but it’s still bad now. I want to see it corrected.” He added in a message to Devon County Council: “I know that with the micro asphalt overlay there is always a settling down period, however in this case there seem to be many areas where the bitumen coating has not actually set and is still sticky, so its filling up peoples tyres etc, and people are walking it around. “Can you please get the appropriate officer to take this up with SKANSKA or their contractors to get some remedial work done?” In response, a Devon County Council spokesman said: “The Council always welcome feedback on road repairs. In this particular instance the works involve a resurfacing treatment called MicroAsphalt. This is a phased process and it has yet to be completed on Union Street. As a result of this feedback, this site has been inspected by Devon County Council and while much of the site is typical of a newly laid Microasphalt site, there are some concerns over the quality of the works. “As microapshalt is a fluid- based material it follows the profile of the road and in some cases can spill onto the footpath where there are dropped curbs. This is what has happened on the bell mouth area of the site and the contractor has already agreed to return and clean this up. “In common with some other highway treatments containing bitumen, the material should not be walked on for at least 20minutes and we have issued publicity and advertisements to advise the public of this. Road signing is also employed during and shortly after treatment and in advance of the works, information leaflets are distributed to local residents and an information board placed on the site. “The work was only carried out here last week and Microasphalt typically takes six months to completely settle down. The appearance of this type of surfacing is known to improve in the weeks and months following treatment. “Once all of the works are complete, a joint site inspection will be carried out by DCC and the Contractor to “sign the site off” as being completed to the correct standard. There is then a two year warranty period whereby the Contractor will make good any further defects deemed to be caused due to workmanship issues.”
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