Faded road markings across Flintshire are a ‘recipe for disaster’

Faded road markings across Flintshire are a ‘recipe for disaster’ as winter approaches, a councillor has said.

At a meeting of Flintshire Council’s Environment scrutiny committee, Buckley Pentrobin Cllr Dennis Hutchinson (Ind) sought assurances the authority had not changed its policy on renewing road markings.

He said he feared for motorists with less than perfect eyesight as lines and markings, particularly at roundabouts, had almost disappeared in some places.

“I am concerned still about the road markings in certain places, and I’m not just talking about Buckley”, Cllr Hutchinson said.

“The worst offenders seem to be roundabouts in places across the county, and I travel the county quite a lot. They are almost obliterated in some instances.

“I’m pushing it on account that there may be people getting on in years and their eyesight could be failing quite a bit.”

Cllr Hutchinson gave an example of the Wylfa roundabout in Mold where he thinks the road markings are in particularly poor condition.

He added: “The roundabout at the bottom of the Wylfa hill in Mold is a classic case where the road markings on that are pretty poor.

“Once the marking has gone there is no mark there showing where you can be on the left-hand side of the roundabout or the right-hand side of the roundabout as you are going around.

“It’s almost everywhere you go. It’s important we pay due diligence for the public that use these roads.

“I think it’s a recipe for disaster particularly with these dark nights.”

The council’s chief officer for Streetscene and Transportation, Katie Wilby assured Cllr Hutchinson there had been no policy change when it comes to renewing road markings, but that councillors needed to raise areas where they have concerns so they can be prioritised for renewal.

She said: “I’m happy to discuss those with Cllr Hutchinson if he’s got any particular concerns in his ward or other areas of the county.

“Equally other members can let me know of any concerns they’ve got about road marking elsewhere.

“The policy hasn’t changed but obviously we can’t be everywhere 24/7, so if you are aware of particular junctions or areas where the lines are faded then please let us know and we can put those forward for priority for being replaced.”

Deputy leader of the council, Llanfynydd Cllr Dave Hughes (Lab), lead member for Streetscene and Transportation added that he felt council staff using the roads daily should also be flagging issues up.

He said: “I take the point and support what Cllr Hutchinson is saying but we’ve got enough of our own vehicles going round. They should be reporting these back as well.”

By Rory Sheehan – Local Democracy Reporter