Praise for Sheffield road repairs despite temporary disruption

Road repairs inevitably cause disruption, with noise and closures leading to frustration for those who live and work nearby.
Roadworks in SheffieldRoadworks in Sheffield
Roadworks in Sheffield

But Sheffield Council’s programme of work – Streets Ahead, carried out by Amey – is winning praise from readers of The Star despite the inconvenience it can cause.

Most of the comments in response to a story posted on our Facebook page about disruption caused by roadworks in Crookesmoor were supportive of the repairs.

University of Sheffield students David Scott, 21, Emily Binnington, 20, and Sarah Woolley, 19, have been kept awake the night before exams by roadworks in Crookesmoor Road and Barber Road.University of Sheffield students David Scott, 21, Emily Binnington, 20, and Sarah Woolley, 19, have been kept awake the night before exams by roadworks in Crookesmoor Road and Barber Road.
University of Sheffield students David Scott, 21, Emily Binnington, 20, and Sarah Woolley, 19, have been kept awake the night before exams by roadworks in Crookesmoor Road and Barber Road.
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Responding to some University of Sheffield students’ complaints that the noise was disrupting their exam preparation, many readers said they were happy the work was being done.

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Roadworks in Sheffield
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Bob Higgins said: “Most of Sheffield has had to put up with it. People moan about the state of the roads, but then moan when someone does something about them.”

University of Sheffield students David Scott, 21, Emily Binnington, 20, and Sarah Woolley, 19, have been kept awake the night before exams by roadworks in Crookesmoor Road and Barber Road.University of Sheffield students David Scott, 21, Emily Binnington, 20, and Sarah Woolley, 19, have been kept awake the night before exams by roadworks in Crookesmoor Road and Barber Road.
University of Sheffield students David Scott, 21, Emily Binnington, 20, and Sarah Woolley, 19, have been kept awake the night before exams by roadworks in Crookesmoor Road and Barber Road.

Gill Wild wrote: “They don’t take that long to do a stretch of road. We’ve got them now at our end and I’d rather they do it at night than all the hassle of road delays in the day.

“Yes we can hear it but it’s not the end of the world, I’m sure the students make more noise anyway.”

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Ben Fountain said potholes were ruining his suspension, adding: “My road was resurfaced overnight for the better. Whatever time of day it’s done someone will moan. Keep up the good work Streets Ahead, get rid of the potholes.”

And Richard Kent said: “I’d like to be kept awake if it meant they were resurfacing the disgrace that passes for a surface on our road.”

Roadworks in SheffieldRoadworks in Sheffield
Roadworks in Sheffield

A number of readers criticised the students for complaining, and suggested they should buy earplugs. But standing up for students, Tom Stevens said: “I’m paying £9,000 a year to get a degree. If I’m going to have to take an exam which requires revision for, I’m not going to be happy getting disturbed.

“It’s OK for everyone to be like, ‘Oh, I’ve got to get up and go to work at 6am,’ but students have to get up and do an exam which could potentially change their life.

“Oh, and earplugs don’t help everyone.”

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City Coun Adam Hanrahan, a third year student, wrote to cabinet member for environment Coun Brian Lodge to back the students.

He said: “At this crucial time of the year it is not just a good night’s sleep which is at stake for these students. Particularly in the case of final year students, three or four years’ hard work could be seriously undermined because of the actions of Sheffield Council.

“I understand the necessity of doing works on busy roads overnight, not to disrupt commuters, but with the standard university exam periods only lasting for three weeks twice a year, and plenty of roads in non-student areas all over Sheffield that are still waiting to be resurfaced, it would seem that the Streets Ahead work could be easily scheduled in a way so that they do not take place overnight during exam periods in student areas.”

Last week a Streets Ahead spokesman apologised for the disruption and said part of the work had to be done at night.

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The spokesman said Streets Ahead had resurfaced 1,000 miles of pavement and 435 miles of road in Sheffield since August 2012. Since June 2015, about 14,750 new LED street lights have been installed and 30,366 potholes repaired.

Coun Lodge said the city would have ‘one of the best highway networks in the country’ by 2017.

He added: “It is great to see that so many of The Star’s readers have got behind us with the work that the Streets Ahead team are doing across the city.

“We understand that these works can sometimes cause inconvenience and disruption in residents’ lives and the team work hard to minimise this as much as possible.”