Residents in a Nottinghamshire town have expressed their frustration after a “horrendous” sinkhole opened up on a road that had only been open for a few days following two months of closure due to another sinkhole. During the afternoon of Wednesday, June 21, Queens Road in Newark had to be closed again between North Gate and the Lovers Lane roundabout.
The road had been closed for around 10 weeks and had opened again earlier this week. However, the road has been closed after a new sinkhole appeared, leaving residents frustrated over the condition of the towns roads. Nottinghamshire County Council, the area's highways authority, said it was investigating the cause of the damage.
Kitchen fitter, Vincent Bamber, 50, said: “The signage was a lot better last time. Me and my partner didn’t know it was shut. It’s not clearly signed.”
He added that he has seen a few people approach the road not realising it’s closed.
Newark resident, Rosie Kucrckiso, 60, said: “The road is in very bad condition and for two months it was shut for improvements. For a few days it was fine, yesterday something happened and the road is closed again.”
Speaking of when it happened, she said “It’s difficult because of the traffic in the afternoon, and then there was another hole on Lovers Lane. I don’t know which road is going to be next.”
Rosie added that she saw many people getting stuck and having to turn around and getting “angry” over the situation yesterday.
The new sinkhole is directly in front of M Peet Ltd. Owner of the mechanics business, Matthew Coupland, has described the sinkhole as “horrendous.”
He said: “It happened yesterday, about lunchtime. The road was all open and some poor woman in a Range Rover went through.”
He explained the road is quite busy when open and often has lorries going over it. People can still access the business from the roundabout, but Matthew is concerned how his customers will be affected.
He said: “It’s extremely disappointing, you rely on these companies to do a job properly and everything is bodged. I’m going to put up a fight to make them finish the job properly.”
Newark and Sherwood District Councillor, Debbie Darby, representing the bridge ward, said: “It is disappointing that the Sink hole on Queens road again. As soon as I was told I went down to the sink hole site.
“I was shocked to see how big it was. It appears a section of Queens road will need to be totally replaced with up to date pipes as it looks like the section of the old Victorian culvert has collapsed.
“This isn’t ideal and will cause delays but the safety of our residents come first.”
In response to the most recent sinkhole, a Nottinghamshire County Council spokesman said on Wednesday: “A further collapse of the carriageway occurred on Queen's Road, Newark, this morning, closing the road. This is subject to further investigation and repairs. We expect the section of Queens Road between Northgate and Lovers Lane to remain closed at this moment in time. We apologise for any inconvenience caused by the closure, but our primary focus is the safety of residents and road users."
