Council response to delays in road resurfacing work

Tuesday April 19th 2016

Rosewell Road looking towards Bonnyrigg

Rosewell Road looking in the direction of Bonnyrigg.

Residents of Midlothian have been wondering why road resurfacing work has taken so long in Rosewell Road near Lasswade High School and Abbey Road near Newbattle Golf Club.

In both cases the road has been stripped of its current tarmac but the new tarmac has not been laid for at least three weeks leaving a heavily rutted road and raised ironwork.

As well as the roads looking very unsightly residents are concerned about possible damage to cars and tyres due to raised manholes and sharp edges of several inches between the different road surfaces.

Midlothian View contacted the council for comment on why the work had been delayed and whether the council are liable for car or tyre damge as a result.

A spokesperson for Midlothian Council said:

“In terms of Abbey Road, there have been three issues that have impacted on progress. Firstly, having exposed the wall there was a need to increase the height of the kerbing to afford a degree of protection. Secondly, due to the proximity of services, the drainage all had to be hand dug to expose and protect. And, finally, having exposed the surface after planning there was a need to carry out substantial patching at the junction into the housing estate. Final surfacing should be completed this week.

“In terms of Rosewell Road, the only delay has been due to having to divert the squad on to another job for a week due to the nature of that job. Final preparation work will be concluded this week and resurfacing completed next week.

“Overall, if there were any incidents as a consequence of the works we would investigate these and respond appropriately.”

When it was pointed out that Rosewell Road has been in it’s current state for longer than a week with no apparent progress the council spokesperson said:

“It is not that case that once the surface is planed out we immediately resurface. That is incorrect. Once the road was planed out there were kerbing works to undertake as well as adjustments to all the ironwork e.g. manholes and toby covers.

“We also had two drainage investigations to undertake to identify the problems and repair the defects found before we could begin to consider resurfacing.

“So, while one may think not much is happening, all of this prep work is going on before the final surfacing goes down, which is programmed for next week.”

Rosewell Road looking towards Poltonhall

Rosewell Road towards Poltonhall.

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