'We're spending cash on posh streets and cycle lanes... not on dangerous potholes'

For years I and other drivers have been carefully negotiating a notorious crossroads in the borough of Bury. Tens of thousands of vehicles daily go through it.

But the issue is not the volume of traffic which demands nifty steering, it is the appalling state of the centre of the road surface. The point at which Bury New Road and Church Lane and Stanley Road meet in the centre of Whitefield is a cluster of twenty craters, cracks, and holes.

HGVs can thunder over it without too much harm but car drivers, motorbike riders, and cyclists need to take care or risk a split tyre, wrecked suspension, or even injury. The junction is on a main route from Manchester to Bury and also sits half a mile from Junction 17 of the M60 and can lead to the M66 via Pilsworth.

The hum of traffic is endless and the location is also right next to a Morrisons supermarket and Metrolink Station. The junction gets hammered by heavy traffic.

The state of the road has been an issue for many locals but their, and my patience, has become volcanic overnight. Bury Council who last month announced they were to spend £3.2m on road repairs in the next 12 months, finally sent out a highway repairs gang in the last week or so to the junction.

But their handiwork did not stretch to tackling the craters. Instead at the bottom of Church Lane we now have a beautifully sea green buffer zone for cyclists waiting for the traffic lights to change. We also have extra road signage for cyclists.

The closeness of cracked, wrecked road next to spanking new - and pointless - road markings has not gone down well with Whitefield residents. The group Love Whitefield posted an image with the comment: "New bicycle lane markings at bottom of Church Lane Whitefield...juxtapositioned with the old worn out road surface of the junction. This has to be one of the most damaged sections of road in the borough"

One local posted: "The irony is that they've made it safe for cyclists at the lights who then have to weave through the potholes at a very busy junction."

Priority appears to have gone out of the town hall window. Back in early March money, and a will was found to resurface all of tree-lined Hamilton Road - perhaps the most desirable and attractive road in the town - which is just 150 yards from the badly damaged junction, and has Edwardian homes which sell for £800.000.

Announcing where they were going to spend the £3.2m in a pre local election announcement in March Bury Council listed 30 roads where repairs would be done. There have been increased complaints about road conditions and potholes in recent months - and prolonged wet weather over the winter has made the situation on many highways worse.

The council provided details on the next stage of its £30m highway investment programme, with scores of roads to be resurfaced or receive preventative treatments. The list includes some major roads including Bury New Road, the primary arterial route through Prestwich and Whitefield and Bury and Bolton Road in Radcliffe.

Improvements to more than 140,000 sqm of road surface across the Bury borough will be done. Some roads will be fully resurfaced which involves mechanical removal of the existing road surface and laying of a new surface.

Others will benefit from preventative maintenance where roads are overlaid with either surface dressing or micro asphalt which seals the surface prolonging the life of the road. Last month Coun Alan Quinn, cabinet member for the environment, climate change and operations, said: “The annual amount (£5.5m for 2024/25) allocated to Bury by the Department for Transport is totally inadequate and less than half of what is needed to maintain good standards across the 660km network of Bury’s roads and other highway assets."

“This has been the case for many years, hence why Bury Council is investing £30 million of extra funding for priority work on local roads.” The 75 roads to benefit from preventative maintenance during the next year will be determined over the next few weeks after surveys are completed following the winter."

He pledged: “In the coming months, thousands more residents will see the roads outside their houses change for the better, thanks to the council’s own investment of £30m over nine years.

"We know roads are important to everyone and we want to do everything we can to make journeys smoother for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians alike. Improvements can’t take place without some disruption though, and we thank residents for their patience while work is carried out.”

But for those weaving around the cracks at the junction in Whitefield town centre there is bad news. If it was in Bavaria where Audis purr over perfect roads you could imagine in one night Germanic engineering and floodlights would arrive and leave the road pristine the next morning. But the bumpy ride in Whitefield town centre looks set to continue.

In a statement the council said today: "Whilst this section (Church Lane/Bury New Road) is not currently included in our funding, it will be monitored, as we do with all of the Borough’s network and considered for any future funding that is available."