The bad weather has had a ‘huge impact’ on roads creating more potholes and forcing County Hall to allocate a further £2million for repairs.
New Department for Transport data also shows three per cent of roads covered by Kent County Council [KCC] are in need of repair. This compares to ten per cent nationally.
KCC Leader Paul Carter said: “The Beast from the East storm had a huge impact on the state of the 5,000 miles of roads we are responsible for.
“We are putting an extra £2million into the maintenance of the roads and this will take the total pothole and drainage budget to £8.1million.
The situation will be reviewed in June and if more work is needed, we will find the additional budget required to fix the potholes.”
Priority will be given to A and B roads.
Tunbridge Wells problem spots have been identified as: The A26 by the Masonic Hall, the bottom of Queen’s Road, Forest Road by the rugby club, Harland Way in Southborough and Upper Grosvenor Road.
Liz Orr, of Tunbridge Wells Women’s Equality Party, said: “The roads are clearly in a dreadful and dangerous state, causing costly damage to motorists and a possible threat to life for cyclists.”
Gillian Douglass, Chairperson of Tunbridge Wells Liberal Democrat Party, said: “The state of roads in Tunbridge Wells is dangerous to motorists and cyclists. Patching up roads is a false economy as the potholes reappear.”
Bjorn Simpole, Vice Chairman of Tunbridge Wells Labour Party, said: “This money is a drop in the ocean. There is a substantial road repair backlog and the county council will never catch up.
“I know of towns in Kent with better roads and nowhere seems to have the scale of problems as Tunbridge Wells. Our roads needs substantial resurfacing.”
