We asked the Election candidates for the Huntingdon constituency to comment on potholes and roads in the county.
Alex Bulat (Labour)
"Our local infrastructure is crumbling - the potholes cratering our roads are a visible sign of the decline after 14 years of Conservative rule.
Everyone can see our roads and footpaths are not up to the standard we expect - this is due to funding not catching up with the demand, the cost of construction going up, and too little investment in prevention and maintenance work over the years.
You may hear politicians at general election time blaming the state of the roads exclusively on the council, but the reality is that in 2022/23, there was an estimated budget gap of almost £1billion in the road maintenance budget in the UK.
The Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA) concluded that it would cost £12billion and take 11 years just to clear our maintenance backlog.
Asking people to fill in a party political local survey or petition on potholes - as opposed to reporting them to the county council - won't sort out the funding gap!
Like so many issues in our area, this is a problem that requires pragmatic solutions, such as looking at the contracts we have, reforming where it does not work, and having more effective ways to prioritise repairs.
As a county councillor, I am part of the Joint Administration in Cambridgeshire. In our budget this year, we made the largest investment in maintenance for more than a decade - £43 million over the next two years. Progress can be slow, but you need investment for it to happen.
The Labour manifesto includes a pledge to fix an additional one million potholes across England in each year of the next parliament. This can be funded by deferring the A27 bypass which is poor value for money and instead investing in the repairs needed locally for all road users.
Labour also supports a move to multi-year settlements for local authorities - this could be a game-changer for councils to be able to plan their budgets more effectively and be able to invest in the work that prevents roads getting worse. We need a government that works in real partnership with local authorities."
Chan Abraham (Independent: Change for Good)
"In my recent discussions with hundreds of residents many have complained about potholes. One woman furiously told me that her motorcycle sustained £500 of damage and she wanted to leave the UK!
We’re all familiar with the pothole problem. It can cause serious wheel, suspension and steering damage if hit, perhaps worse. I ask the same questions for this as for others: what caused it; what have we done; why hasn’t this worked; what have we spent; what have we learned and what will we do differently?
The Asphalt Industry Association states that 64 per cent of Eastern England’s roads, 15,000 miles, need resurfacing. Does Cambridgeshire County Council know the scale of our problem, why remedies haven’t worked and how much has been spent?
Road tax this year is £8.3 billion, pothole repairs estimated at £16.3 billion. We could have repaired all the potholes but our leaders sent £14.5 billon to a conflict unconnected to the UK, promising another £3 billion.
I have asked for an audit but they cannot provide this. Instead of fixing our roads they have threatened to drag us into war!
If we don’t get answers soon, our money will continue to be poured into these holes."
Georgie Hunt (Green)
"Tackling potholes and maintaining our roads is crucial to ensure the safety for all road users in our area.
But merely fixing them is like poking a finger in a hole in a dyke. What we need is a long-term solution that will improve the roads as a whole, make them easier to maintain, and promote a healthier, more sustainable community.
Whilst we re-building and re-surfacing roads, we should take the opportunity to include active travel facilities such as cycling and walking, and improve public transport options.
This would separate cyclists and pedestrians from motorists, improving the safety for all road users.
Tragically, there have been a number of instances on the Huntingdon ring road in recent years which demonstrate that these interventions are vital and long overdue.
This would offer an alternative to travel by car for short journeys, and encourage a way of life that would reduce the pressure on our NHS while empowering those who rely on public transport."
Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative)
"Roads are a topic that has regularly come up on the doorstep throughout this election campaign.
We see that road surfaces in many places across the constituency are poor and resurfacing work is urgently needed.
The Conservative manifesto pledges £8.3billion to fill potholes and resurface roads by bringing funding forward into this financial year and the next.
Addressing dangerous roads within the constituency should be a key priority.
The Conservatives have already fought for improvements to the Wheatsheaf crossroads junction, with £6.8m for traffic lights and the widening of the junction already in place.
We must also address the junctions along the A14, specifically those that consist of a T-junction with no slip road.
I’ve met with councillors from Bythorn and Keyston Parish Council to discuss this and have experienced trying to negotiate the junctions myself first-hand.
It is only a matter of time before somebody is killed or seriously injured trying to cross the westbound carriageway of the A14 at Keyston to travel East.
We must implement measures to make the junction safer, be that with improved signage or by the more costly approach of upgrading the junction with a slip road.
We see significant congestion problems in St Ives, particularly around the Harrison Way roundabout which has become a real bottleneck for those travelling from the East of the constituency through St Ives or trying to access the A14.
I believe we need to think about how the junction can be upgraded in order to avoid further congestion.
Regarding active travel, we see an urgent need for better cycling infrastructure locally following several fatal accidents involving cyclists in recent months.
My local plan prioritises upgrading our local road infrastructure to make our roads safer and with less congested at key bottlenecks."
Sarah Smith (Reform UK)
"The state of our roads should not be an issue in a first-world country like the UK.
The poor maintenance of B roads and the resulting epidemic of craters and potholes, makes life difficult and hazardous for anyone living or working in villages.
It has also contributed to rocketing car insurance and overstretched road-side assistance services.
The county council is responsible for fixing potholes on most of our roads and just doesn’t prioritise it.
As I drive along a rutted crumbling road and see a beautiful smooth, new cycle path next to the road, I am led to wonder whether CCC’s priorities are influenced by their ideological prejudices against the private car.
I would suggest measures to enforce CCC’s responsibilities, such as making it much easier for motorists to claim compensation for pothole damage or making it possible for insurance companies to reclaim money from the local authority that they have paid out to the motorist for burst tyres or broken suspension.
Also, national government should impose penalties for potholes that are left unfilled for more than x number of days after being notified.
It needs to cost local authorities more to leave them untended, than to fix them quickly.
That’s the only way of solving this problem."
Mark Argent (Lib Dem)
The last county council election ended Conservative control and brought in a cross-party alliance with a Liberal Democrat leader.
One of its achievements has been an additional £40million to spend on our neglected roads, which is now making an impact.
This comes on the back of a former Conservative administration that was less willing to spend on roads and a lack of money from central government. As MP I’d be looking to apply pressure to make more money available.
The bigger question is how we enable people to travel around in a time when we urgently need to reduce CO2 emissions.
Inevitably this means improving public transport and facilities for people walking or cycling, which also help with congestion and public health. It also means support for things like then new Alconbury Weald railway station.
For the long-term, growth across Cambridgeshire which is straining our roads, we should be thinking of specific things, like improving the A1307.
We also need to use planning controls to minimise the impact of new housing and business building on our roads, do more to support remote working, and park-and-ride facilities, so that people in rural areas can connect with public transport.
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