Road markings painted in Basingstoke potholes days before repairs


A team from Hampshire County Council painted markings on the road just days before it was repaired by the same council

A council has been accused of wasting money after painting road markings over potholes just days before they were repaired.

Hampshire County Council painted the 'School Keep Clear' markings on the damaged carriageway of Sullivan Road, near Chalk Ridge Primary School, in Basingstoke. Days later, another team from the council fixed the road - obliterating the work of the first group.

The council said repainting faded school markings is important for safety, but accepted the job should have been paused until after the repairs.

Liberal Democrat councillor Andrea Bowes, from Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, said she was "gobsmacked" by the blunder. "It's such a ludicrous waste of money, almost to the point of being farcical," she said. "I was horrified to the point of laughter. It's a case where, if you don't laugh, you're going to cry."

Bowes said better communication within the council could have prevented the error. She continued: "This is different departments within the same council and they're obviously just not talking to each other. It doesn't take much - an email or a memo just saying 'we're going to be doing this on this day, is there anything we need to know?'."


The council accepted that the re-lining should have taken place after the road was repaired

A Hampshire County Council spokesperson said: "Recent weather conditions have caused road defects to appear more rapidly across the county, and in some cases, issues develop after works are scheduled but before they take place. Our highways team work hard to carefully coordinate and deliver hundreds of repairs every day, and we recognise that, ideally, the re-lining should have been paused to allow the repair to be completed first. However, re-painting fading road markings is important to reduce risks outside schools, so the crew proceeded as planned."

The council said it was now preparing to repaint the school markings on the road.

August: The yellow box is gone but not forgotten

A yellow box junction which was hailed as the biggest in the UK and Ireland has been removed from a County Londonderry town.

The 40m-long yellow markings in Maghera were painted in June, then reduced in size in July, and now have disappeared completely. However, a yellow box is expected to make a comeback in the autumn, when resurfacing work in the town is completed.

Mid Ulster Councillor Denise Johnston said she wants a meeting with the Department for Infrastructure over what she described as "a waste" of public money. Questions have been asked about the cost of the work, and why the lines were painted in June if resurfacing work was planned in August.

SDLP councillor Denise Johnston told BBC Radio Foyle: "It just doesn't make sense and it's not a good use of public money. I do get the importance of a yellow box - a yellow box will be necessary there - but … if you know you're going to resurface the road two or three months later, why would you do it?"  She said many people in Maghera had been left "bemused and confused".


July: The beginning of the end

The Department for Infrastructure (DfI), which is in charge of roads in Northern Ireland, said the costs could not be released as they were "commercially sensitive".

Explaining the changes which have taken place, a DfI spokesperson said: "The department implemented the yellow box markings at this location to assist with the ease of Translink bus movements to and from the main bus stop on St Lurachs Road.

"The extent of the markings was reviewed following initial installation and subsequently reduced in length to improve traffic flow. The yellow box marking will be reinstated upon completion of the resurfacing on Hall Street."


June: The yellow box in all its glory

Maghera, with its population of fewer than 5,000 people, was dubbed the "small town with the big yellow box" after the first appearance of the markings in June.

The extra-large box stretched along a busy junction frequently used by buses, lorries and cars. After complaints, the box was scaled back but it took a while as the distinctive yellow markings are not easily removed.

Public realm improvements have been taking place in the town for the past year. As well as installing new street furniture and widening footpaths, the project tried to tackle traffic flow issues.

Some of the yellow lines in Sea Lane, Old Hunstanton, are not as straight as drivers would expect

Wonky yellow lines painted on the roads of a coastal village have seen an attempt to improve parking problems take a strange turn.

The narrow lanes of Old Hunstanton often get clogged by parked vehicles as people head to the north-west Norfolk coast during the warmer months. That meant new regulations were brought in on 11 July, restricting parking on several roads between 08:00 and 18:00 over a five-month period. But Norfolk County Council said the new lines were below standard, and ordered remedial work as a "matter of urgency".

The meandering yellow lines, including on Sea Lane and Waterworks Road, are a mixture of double and single yellows. Some of them continue across the end of driveways and incorrectly merge into one another. They were painted on roads following a traffic regulation order (TRO) that was approved by the county council and came into effect on 11 July.


Some of the yellow lines in Old Hunstanton merge into one another

Tom de Winton is the Conservative West Norfolk borough councillor for Old Hunstanton and has been working alongside the village's parish council on the traffic issues in recent years. "We can all have a bit of a laugh about some wobbly yellow lines but the important thing is that our coastal villages do have a lot of traffic, particularly in the summer," he said. "Councillors in Old Hunstanton have tried very hard to get the TRO and have been under quite a lot of pressure. But also managing to get a TRO takes a hell of a lot of time to get done, so when a silly clot does a bad job then they need to be made to go and do it again."


Some of the lines have been painted over the end of people's driveways

A Norfolk County Council spokesperson said: "Unfortunately the double yellow lines at Old Hunstanton have not been installed to Norfolk County Council's specification or standards. Accordingly, we have requested the contractor to undertake remedial works as a matter of urgency. Some of these works have already taken place but others will be carried out over the coming weeks once the surface has been prepared. All remedial works will be completed at no cost to Norfolk County Council."

Perhaps the Department for Transport should now update their guidance on roundabouts in the Highway Code.

Their current illustrations bear no resemblance to these increasingly artistic variations which are now springing up.  Roll Eyes

I think they should have used normal zebra crossing markings at all 5 positions, with the necessary approach signage. There seems no reason for drivers to give priority to pedestrians, so their safety has been seriously reduced.

The 25 March 2015 planning committee report states:

‘The main constraint along Nine Mile Ride is California Crossroads where currently there are intermittent peak hour delays, and increased delays would be expected. Mitigation alternatives have been examined and a Working Group has been set up with representatives from the local community, and this had its first meeting in late February. At the meeting, options were discussed, and it was agreed that the preferred approach would be a scheme that retained a similar level of highway capacity, and that the priority would be to deliver an environmental improvement in the centre of Finchampstead. An environmental improvement would facilitate the multi-modal use of the junction and improve its operation.  Over the coming months a scheme will evolve based on these principles to be funded by the developers, and it will be subject to wider engagement.’

Horrendous and dangerous - or fresh and vibrant?

The California Cross junction in Finchampstead, Berkshire, has been described as both.

The product of a broader £5.5m seven-month revamp, the double roundabout and five crossings with distinctive leaf designs has divided opinion amongst locals, with 1,400 signing a petition calling for it to be gone.

Residents have raised concerns about the cost of the work, as well as the safety of a junction that doesn't exactly follow convention.

But how dangerous is it?

The junction consists of two roundabouts, each with three exits. Each exit has a crossing for pedestrians.

But instead of a zebra crossing with black and white stripes, there is a distinctive white leaf design - and instead of a roundabout with a standard central island, there's an array of rainbow leaves painted on the road.

The changes were made as part of a wider project for the area, which also included drainage works.

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Newly-repainted road markings reading "Ceep Klear" near a school have caused dismay among residents.

The misspelling appeared on a re-patched section of Watermoor Road in Cirencester, Gloucestershire.

Pictures of the sign, near Paternoster School, attracted hundreds of comments on social media, with locals complaining the error was part of a wider problem with the town's roads.

Paul Skuse, who runs a Cirencester group on Facebook, posted: "Another top quality repair carried out."

One group member said: "Must be a joke. No one can be that bad at spelling!!"

Another complained that poor repairs were making the town's roads and pavements dangerous for push chairs and wheelchair users.

One man remarked: "(The) 'repair' won't last long enough for anyone else to notice."

Joe Harris, the Liberal Democrat leader of Cotswold District Council, said the mistake was proof "the management of the roads in this county simply isn't good enough".  In a video posted on X he blamed Gloucestershire County Council, run by the Conservatives, for failing to ensure its contractor kept the roads in good condition.

"We don't have a common sense approach to fixing the roads - quite often you see a pothole filled in and one right next to it is just left totally unattended," he said.  "I think that's totally bonkers."

The BBC has approached the county council for comment.