In a recent update via the MyHarrow newsletter, Cllr Paul Osborn, Leader of the London Borough of Harrow, addressed the concerns of residents about roads and pavements in the borough.
Cllr Osborn said, “I’m pleased to bring you a further update on our commitment to resurface roads and pavements in the borough. I know it’s a big issue for residents, which is why we’ve set it as a priority area for action.”
He noted the challenge at hand, admitting, “There’s a big backlog of work here, it’s costly and resources are limited. We’ve committed £10 million to the issue this year. But that pays for only a fraction of the repairs needed across our more than 280 miles of highway.”
Despite the financial constraints, Cllr Osborn highlighted the council’s proactive approach. “We started our road resurfacing programme in July. I hope you’ve started to notice a difference around the borough.
“Our renewed roads look absolutely superb, and year-on-year we will bring more of them up to this high standard.”
He added, “Harrow is unique in London as it has no roads that are maintained by Transport For London or National Highways, so we’re responsible for all repairs and maintenance.”
Cllr Osborn also shared details about the ongoing efforts on pavements, stating, “Now we’ve started to address some of the pavements and paths most in need of repair too, with 47 prioritised for urgent action.”
However, he acknowledged the inconvenience caused by the repair work, “Our programme may cause a little disruption, as sometimes one lane of the road, as well as the pavement, needs to close for our engineers to work safely. In some cases, it will also be necessary to do the work in stages.”
Responding to residents’ questions about the timeline, he said, “We are working on a way to give everyone a sense of where their road sits in the overall programme.
“I know some people will want us to go faster and their road to be done sooner, but as I said, we still have a huge backlog built up over many years.”
“Whenever I mention the progress we’re making on this issue, often the reply is ‘and when are you going to do my road?’ – which is fair enough. I want us to be more transparent in the future about how we prioritise road and pavement repairs.”
In addition to road resurfacing, Cllr Osborn shared news about improving road markings, saying, “On a related topic, I’m very pleased to announce that we’ve started a programme to repaint our road markings.
“Many are faded, and it’s been a very long time since these have been addressed in a systematic way.”
He outlined the plan, stating, “We’re starting with the yellow zig-zag keep clear lines outside schools, followed by zebra crossings and then mini-roundabouts.”
He added, “It will be a long journey to get our borough where it should be, but we are taking the first steps.”
