Tour de Yorkshire pothole worries - council says poor road surface can't be fixed before May

North Yorkshire County council will not repair potholes in a road to be used by the Tour de Yorkshire, saying although there was money available from April, they didn’t want to ‘embarrass’ the town by having roadworks there on the day.

Church Street, in Norton, is described as one of the worst road surfaces in the area, but the council says there is not time to complete the works, which have finance in place, before the inaugural race on May 2.

Richard Marr, county highway manager for Ryedale, told the Gazette & Herald the work would be held back till after the event.

He said: “We looked long and hard at the project and I was not convinced that if we started on April 1 we would be finished by the time of the race.

“The footpath is all over the place and there are level problems with the road. It is not just a question of resurfacing, there is a lot of work involved and with Easter coming up I do not want to embarrass Norton by having roadworks there on the day of the race.

“The race directors have driven the route and have not raised any concerns.

“This event is in a different league to the Tour de France and riders expect variations in road surfaces.”

We recently reported how Leeds City Council says spending money on hosting the inaugural Tour de Yorkshire will be worth it, saying they are keen to “make the most” of the momentum created by last year’s Grand Depart of the Tour de France.

York’s council is spending £150,000 on the event, and Scarborough is investing £135,000, plus Bridlington, Selby, Leeds and Wakefield.

Including contributions from county councils in East Yorkshire and North Yorkshire, the total amount being spent on hosting the race will run into several hundred thousands of pounds.

That is on top of the £11 million that was spent by local authorities including those in York and Leeds, as well as North, South and West Yorkshire county councils, on staging the opening two days of the Tour de France in July last year.

Besides the men’s race, there will be a women’s race on Saturday 2 May and a sportive the following day that will include some of the roads used in the Tour de France.

Meanwhile a Yorkshire waste management company has branded the post Tour de France clean-up ‘the true legacy of the event,’ saying that rubbish and graffiti may still be visible for the Tour of Yorkshire in May.

"We hate to be seen as the local grinches in what has been one of the great Yorkshire success stories of recent years," says Mark Hall from BigGreen.co.uk. "But first impressions are everything, and at the moment, we're looking a little tatty.”

The Leeds-based waste management firm says that signs of Le Tour are still visible and that the cost of the clear-up is vying with increased interest in cycling as the true legacy of the event. "We're based right in the heart of last year's Tour de France route," says Hall, "and it pains us to see that the clear-up from last year's events still hasn't been completed.

"Don't get us wrong, we loved the Tour, and it brought out the very best from England's best county, but it's getting a little embarrassing to see so much Tour promotional stuff still in place. It's like your lazy neighbour leaving his Christmas lights up until Easter."