Rival petitions have been launched after councillors learned a road in Watford will not be resurfaced as quickly as they would have liked.

Last month, North Watford county councillor Asif Khan said he was told by Hertfordshire County Council that a section of St Albans Road – a road "riddled with potholes" - would be resurfaced.

Watford Labour said no date had been set, but now further enquiries by both the Liberal Democrats and Watford Labour have in fact revealed no resurfacing work is scheduled.

As a result, both parties have set up separate petitions calling for the road to be resurfaced this year as a "matter of urgency".

Liberal Democrat councillor Dawn Allen-Williamson wants to see the road improved following the recent wider investment in St Albans Road.

The ward councillor for Callowland said: "Given the reports that the road was programmed for works, this is deeply disappointing, especially as the section from Balmoral Road to Leavesden Road is dreadful.

"Our Lib Dem Watford Council spent £400,000 on improvements to the pavements, with planting and seats. We need the Tory county council to step up and do the road surface. We asked how much and were told it would cost £265,000, subject to surveys. We believe the county council needs to find that money now."

Cllr Allen-Williamson pictured in St Albans Road. Credit: Watford Liberal Democrats

Cllr Allen-Williamson pictured in St Albans Road. Credit: Watford Liberal Democrats

Cllr Khan said: "I’m furious. This is bitterly disappointing, as the area is in desperate need of it.

"St Albans Road is a main artery to and from the town and it shouldn’t be in this condition.

"The road is riddled with potholes galore, it is prone to flooding and it is a danger to all road users.

"I and the Labour team have led a long and hard campaign to improve St Albans Road in general. The resurfacing will benefit residents and local businesses alike."

Cllr Khan pictured with Labour colleague Richard Smith, who is a borough councilllor, in St Albans Road. Credit: Watford Labour

Cllr Khan pictured with Labour colleague Richard Smith, who is a borough councilllor, in St Albans Road. Credit: Watford Labour

Councillor Phil Bibby, executive member for highways at the county council, said: "We are fully aware that this road needs repair, and this includes drainage issues. Whilst it would be great to be able to do this now, I regret that there are higher priorities demanding our limited resources across the county, so it has yet to be programmed, although we will be considering including it in our 2022/23 programme.

 

"When we helped with the footway maintenance a while ago, we did promise to come up with designs to fix St Albans Road, but the actual work was always said to be dependent on additional funding becoming available which, unfortunately, has not been the case.

"We have just committed £10m over the next four years to look at drainage issues. This funding should allow us to investigate this road, to see what we can do. It may be that any resurfacing could be designed to improve water run-off as part of the bigger solution so, as it transpires, it may not be the best option to carry out standard resurfacing now.

"I am sorry to disappoint readers, but I hope I have clarified the realities here."

The Labour petition can be found here and the Liberal Democrat petition cab be found here.