Popes Lane

A number of residents have contacted me about the poor state of Popes Lane road surface. This problem has been rumbling on for some time but my fellow ward councillors (as well as local County Councillors) have been keeping up pressure on the County Council and their contractor Carrillion. They have committed to making it good, we are now waiting for it to happen, though two deadlines have now been missed due to the poor weather in July.

In response to a question from a County Councillor Surrey Council Officers have given this explanation:

'Popes Lane and Fairchildes Road (which is suffering from a smiliar problem) are relatively lightly trafficked rural roads that had poor road profile and SCC considered them ideal for the retread process which has been used successfully in Surrey and across the country generally. The roads were 'retreaded' during March 2006, within the right weather conditions but quickly it became apparent that "fat" excess bitumen binder was present on the finished surface. This was creating a slippery surface for road users. SCC asked for a dressing of stone chips to absorb the excess binder and create a good surface for vehicle to break safely.
However, in the last few months it is clear that the issue has re-occurred and that the 'retread' process has not worked at these two sites. A new brief is currently being prepared for the sites. Alongside this we are going to commission an independent review to understand what has happened to date and what we need to learn for the future. Staff are also reviewing the need for any potential road closures and what can be done to minimise the problems in the short term'.