Road surface gives drivers and cyclists a bumpy ride

8:01am Friday 18th April 2008

Comments (4)   Have your say »

Residents often claim Barnet Council gives them a rough ride, and in one street in Finchley, they literally have.

Road resurfacing contractors carried out work on Elm Park Road in January, but were forced last week to relay the surface because "defective material" resulted in a bone-shaking surface, particularly for cyclists.

Resident Rupert Hamer, 38, said: "It's a ludicrous story that they seem to have put the road on upside down, with all the gritty bits at the top.

"They didn't put any leaflets through the door, and everyone had to leave their cars elsewhere for a couple of days.

"In any other company there would be questions asked about why this mistake happened."

A council spokesman confirmed that the original work had left a "bumpy" road surface, and was not up to standard, but said it was the first time in five years a road had to be attended to after being laid.

"We asked them to go back and redo the work, which they have done at no extra cost," he added.

"If they had not addressed the issue now, then the road would have required more costly improvement works within 12 to 18 months."

Richard Vine, area director for Bardon Contracting, the company overseeing the work, said it had been completed between Wednesday and Friday last week.

"It is disappointing, but we were aware that we had a problem with that site," he said.

"We encountered severe weather conditions three months ago and the materials were left out which meant they were defective when we tried to lay them.

"As a business there was no compromise on quality and we have now used a superior product so there should be no further problems for residents."