Update on Westgate Street tarmac.

Richard Wyatt,

I have often said Bath’s Westgate Street is one of the most battered and abused roads in the city.

It’s often blocked with delivery vans and lorries, and its pennant kerb stones broken or dislodged by the wheels of the weighty wagons parked (illegally?) above.

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Tarmac infills replacing missing kerb stones.

Well it seems the missing stones have been replaced with tarmac and new road markings applied.

Is it just me or would others agree that the first vehicle to park – with its wheels on the pavement – will just squash that infill?

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Is this for real?

A spokesperson for B&NES told Bath Newseum:

“The asphalt repairs to kerbing are temporary and have been made in response to a marked increase in damage to kerbs and footways cause by vehicles mounting on to and running along the pavement.

This issue has been exacerbated by the development work currently taking place in Saw Close and  Westgate Street.

The flexible asphalt concrete will stand up better to contact with vehicles and keep the area as safe as possible for pedestrians. When we feel the risk of damage is reduced we will reinstate the original kerbs and footway.”

 

Published by Richard Wyatt

Freelance Journalist, broadcaster, columnist and local historian. Director of Bath Newseum. Married and lives in Bath. Interested in local history, architecture and visual display in museums and urban spaces.

4 Comments

  1. What makes me really sad is the damage done to the beautiful Georgian carved windows and doorways at the south end of Parsonage Lane by over-large and careless vehicles.

  2. The Council has for some time now been using inferior materials to patch up pavements. Where slabs have broken, (any kind of slab it seems) the gap has been patched with concrete and a grooves drawn to imitate the pattern of the former slabs. Within weeks these blobs of concrete have cracked and within months the grooves have worn away. This cannot be cost effective maintenance and the attractive quality of our streets is gradually being eroded. Where is the commitment to good quality streetscape in the World Heritage City? It makes me laugh to read the Council’s latest bulletin boasting about “beautiful Bath”!

  3. The re-laying of the setts in Queen Street is abysmal – great gaps between the setts filled with grey concrete. The crossing slabs were lost apart from one row. I presume they’ve taken them away to use elsewhere – or sold them. I complained but B&NES thinks it’s lovely. But I fear this admnstration would not be unhappy to see the loss of World Heritage Status. It gets in the way of developers.

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