Residents call for 'atrocious' Station Road to be mended as a priority for motorists near Earls Barton

Residents have been asking for urgent works to repair the stretch of road in Station Road, runs from the old station house, past the Hanson gravel extraction works and over the two bridges across the River Nene, finishing at Earls Barton Marina.

But Earls Barton Parish Council says pleas to put the repair to the top of North Northamptonshire Council’s priority road repairs list have gone unanswered.

Clerk to Earls Barton Parish Council, Rosemary Smart, said: “We’ve been told there’s no budget for it, we’ve been told ‘we’ll look into it’. We never get on the list.”

Former restaurateur John Dunkley has lived on the road for more than 40 years and is frustrated by the patchwork of mends on the surface of the road.

He said: “It’s atrocious. It’s one of the worst roads in the county. I personally swerve to avoid the potholes.

"Last month they closed the road for 12 days. We thought they would repair the road, but they repaired a fence. It beggared belief.

"They should be resurfacing the road from the quarry to the other side of the bridge. There’s 300 lorries a day that use this road. I have no problem with the quarry but all these people have to drive over these terrible roads. It would make sense to do a proper job.”

Adding to the bad condition of the road are regular floods that hit Station Road from the River Nene.

Mr Dunkley said: “I can’t recall it (road resurfacing) ever being done. Three year ago they did surface dressing. The footpath next to the road has been completely eroded. It’s so frustrating.”

A potential traffic increase in traffic may come from the huge proposed solar farm planned for farmland close to the road.

Calling for repairs, Cllr Martin Griffiths (Ind, Irchester) said: “The feeling from officers is that the road is almost completely collapsed. It will need a lot of money spending on it. Other parts of North Northamptonshire have had some big schemes using Government money. Cut Throat Lane has been resurfaced.

”This has been raised at parish council meetings for many a long year. It’s time it got sorted. The road is a disgrace. It should be number one on the list.”

Cllr Matt Binley, North Northamptonshire Council’s executive member for highways, travel and assets, said: “As a council, investing in local highways is a priority and we are committed to improving transport infrastructure, including our local roads.

"We have committed an extra £9m of capital investment into roads across North Northants over the next three financial years and had a commitment of £149m over a 7-year period from the previous Government, something we are seeking confirmation and a commitment from the new Government on.

“We are aware of the condition of this particular stretch of road which is directly outside a quarry and, as such, receives significant HGV traffic daily.

“Thermal road repairs have recently been carried out at this location, and we are exploring opportunities to further improve the road condition, including repairs to coincide with other planned road closures. Reports of new defects have been received this week which will be repaired as soon as possible, alongside a full inspection of the location.

“All works across our network are prioritised using a matrix system, based on facts, and we have information on our website which sets out how we spend funding alongside works due to be carried out as part of our capital investment and other funding awarded by central government.”