Star comment - Come back and do a proper resurfacing job

Newly resurfaced roads across the city are cracking up for no apparent reason - other than a botched job.

Quiet backwaters with very little traffic are simply coming to bits.

Random potholes have appeared in Sheephill Road, which half marathoners will know is a flat country lane and the highest altitude of the annual race. Each year it sees nothing more than cars, the odd tractor and a few thousand runners’ feet. There is no reason why that surface should not have lasted for years if not decades. If it had been done right.

Sadly, it is far from the only one. Minor roads like Highcliffe and Greystones and Collegiate Crescent and Victoria Road are starting to look like a piece of Swiss cheese - that has been patched three times. Knowle Lane in Ecclesall was so bad it had to be done again.

Our story on inadequate repairs on Surrey Street this week prompted responses from people city wide who are angry and bemused as to why holes should be appearing on residential roads.

It brings back bitter memories of a time not so long ago when Sheffield was famous for streets that felt like farm tracks. If you want the experience today, Rundle Road in Nether Edge is a perfectly preserved example, but check your fillings first.

News of a £2bn contract to resurface the city in 2012 was met with joy. Yet here we are.

The job appears to have stalled. And much of what has been done is rubbish. It is a scandal and a tragedy.

Roads are supposed to last for decades not two or three years. Certainly, money like that won’t come our way again for much longer than that. Sheffield had one chance and Amey blew it.

There must be quality standards in the contract with the city council. The authority and the people of Sheffield, through the Star, now need to hold Amey to account.

We don’t need lawyers and lengthy court cases because the evidence is damning and, unfortunately, it’s not going anywhere.

Amey must now come back and do a proper job.