ESSEX Highways boss Lee Scott is to visit Colchester this week after a councillor invited him to see “the worst road in Colchester” for potholes.

Lee Scott, who is Essex County Council’s cabinet member for highways maintenance and sustainable transport, received the invitation from Colchester councillor Dave Harris last month.

Now, a date has been set for the highways boss to take a look at Queen Elizabeth Way, which Mr Harris says has been neglected by the county hall’s highways division.

Mr Scott will meet Mr Harris on Thursday, May 11.

Gazette:

Last week, Essex Highways did briefly visit Queen Elizabeth Way, but residents were left “incredulous” after council workers filled in just one of the 48 potholes Mr Harris had reported.

But Mr Harris struck a cordial tone and said he is welcoming Mr Scott’s visit.

READ MORE: Pothole-riddled road described as 'worst in Colchester' by concerned councillor 

He said: “I think he’s quite a sensible man, and I think he will agree there’s something wrong with the system that fixes just one pothole and leaves the other 47 around it blank.

“He’s listening to me – I’m not going to diss him because as far as I’m concerned, he’s going to come down and have a look."

“I’ll say we need to have a word with engineers and use a bit of common sense.”

A spokesperson for Essex Highways said: “This repair was a make safe. Once alerted to this defect on Queen Elizabeth Way, Colchester, an adhoc inspection was carried out and the defect was determined as high risk.

“The highest risk problems need to be dealt with urgently, for public safety.

"For these most urgent repairs, we don’t have time to book a permit to close the road, order traffic management and get together all the equipment and hot asphalt. In accordance with our maintenance strategy, it has been made safe until we can programme a permanent repair.

 

“To find out more about make safes and how we prioritise highways issues, visit: https://www.essexhighways.org/roads-and-pavements/how-we-prioritise-highway-issues.”