Highways

Many of the occupants are old and say they are unable to pay their share towards repairs.

The council say they will only take over if we the occupiers repair the road first, do we have to wait untill the road collapses, as I live in fear of this happening, especially through the winter month's, when our drains do not take away the rain or melting snow, the road is frozen over continuously, the paths are also questionable, inclined to think you would agree if you were to see it for yourself. BUT what are we to do about it? Can you advise? Maida Grove, Fulford Road, York

A: Councils, because of constraints on resources, have focused on maintaining our existing roads, rather than committing public funds to adopting private ones.

However we will support residents of streets who collectively are willing to upgrade their roads to adoption standard, as we have done on a number of occasions over the years.

We recognise that there are difficulties for some residents in terms of funding, but there are alternative ways of funding that can help.

I will ask our council officers to follow this up and give you a more detailed reply.

Q: Poor state of many footpaths and the need for more dropped kerbs.

The footpath on both sides of Lord Mayor's Walk is in a very bad condition.

When I drive my scooter along the paths I am jolted all the way.

It must be even worse for wheelchair occupants and their pushers. The road surface on the other hand is smooth and vehicles have good springing.

A dropped kerb is needed at the junction of Duncombe Place and High Petergate.

The footpath is useless without it.

I have to take my scooter on the road for the whole length of the path. Motorists are ignoring dropped kerbs and parking across them.

This appliesparticularly to the dropped kerbs in King's Square. Can Councillor Merrett help, please?

Yours aye, Major M.G.Wilks, York

A: We recognise that we need more dropped kerbs and that some footpaths are unsatisfactory, especially for disabled people. We have a specific programme for introducing dropped kerbs, which we consult the Disabled Persons Advisory Group on in terms of priorities.

We also try and take advantage of reconstruction programmes to 'add-in' others and we're obviously providing other improvements for disabled people - for example pedestrian crossings, which have been altered to include things like tactile pavements and disabled-friendly signals.

We've set standards for new pavements and their construction, in terms of slope limits, minimum widths etc. However there is a vast network in the city and it will take time to bring it up to the desirable standards - and there are some limitations, particularly in the narrow historic streets.

On the general maintenance issue, we have been increasing the amount of money we put into footpath and road maintenance over the years, to respond to resident concerns.

Last year's residents survey told us that residents wanted us to give more priorities to footpaths and we have used a larger proportion of our resources on improvements there. We've also introduced more regular inspections for pot-holes and pavement trips to improve the service.

We are in the process of bringing a wider initiative forward to deal with the street environment as a whole. We aim to have a dedicated member of staff who will be responsible for the different areas of the city, so local residents know who to contact.

This is intended to cover all the key things that affect the street environment (whether its state of repair of the pavements, roads or verges, street cleansing, lighting, etc.), so that we can aim to pick up everything in one go.

We will still have financial constraints, but by operating more efficiently in this way, we should be able to make the money go further.

With regard to your specific queries, I will ask officers to look at this and contact you further.