“Someone is going to die there…” Dangerous pothole on B4192 causing damage, accidents but still there – UPDATE – Pothole Filled

The words of Aldbourne & Ramsbury Wiltshire Councillor James Sheppard about the above pothole on the B4192, just to the north of Aldbourne on the way to Swindon. Tyres damaged beyond repair, alloy wheels cracked and broken, and very recently a car hit the pothole and went right off the road and the Police then arrived to put the blue flashing light in the middle of the carriageway as a warning. But it’s just before a blind brow on a fast straight main road. There are double white lines so no driver should move into the opposite carriageway to miss the pothole and avoid warning light anyway. Cars speed in the opposite direction and wouldn’t be visible until possibly too late. Motorcyclists, cyclists – hell……

It’s not Marlborough, nor even in the Wiltshire Council area but it affects the residents from around here, any driver from Aldbourne or Ramsbury going north towards Swindon. It’s Swindon, and Swindon Borough Council’s responsibility to fix. So what’s the delay in getting it filled?

Cllr Sheppard has already contacted Cllr Jim Robbins, leader of Swindon Borough Council, informing of this dangerous hazard in the road and the damage it has already wreaked, and pleaded that Swindon take action and fix it.

So why haven’t Swindon done anything, yet? Cllr Sheppard forwarded the reply from Cllr Robbins to Marlborough.news – see below:

Are potholes news? Yes. And some more than others, this is high on the list. Cllr Sheppard is not just doing this because he thinks it’s a real danger, he’s responding to the real worries of his community, and there is widespread concern that the next accident could be far worse than anything so far, as the hole itself isn’t getting any smaller as every car, van, lorry or truck that hits it, the hole gets deeper and yet more dangerous. And for motorcyclists – at night, or one of the many cyclists who use that stretch for training, even worse.

Roads in the UK have deteriorated massively over the past decade or so. Nowadays in Wiltshire potholes are bad, some roads very bad. In Swindon, pothole are also bad, just as bad as in Wiltshire. But this, on the B4192 just north of Aldbourne is right at the ‘Apex of Bad’. Already dangerous, already damaging, and, in the view of Councillor James Sheppard, bad enough to cause serious accident, injury, possibly even fatal.

It would appear from Cllr Robbins’ response that Swindon were unaware of this hazard. They won’t be now so let’s see how long it takes for this danger to be fixed and safety restored to this stretch of busy main road.

UPDATE – Hole Now Filled

Credit to Swindon Borough Council, they responded quickly and the serious pothole was filled. Plenty more to go, but the nature of this one was such that it needed a prompt reaction, which is what happened.