"Herts' Roads are in Good Shape!" claim the Tories - "Oh no they're not!" say the Liberal Democrats.
Herts Lib Dems have hit out at Tory County Council claims that our roads are in "Good Shape".
In March this year, the Lib Dems protested as over 60 road resurfacing reconstruction schemes were cut from works due by the County Council.
The Conservative administration cut road improvement schemes (mainly on secondary side roads across the county) and reduced the budget for such schemes by £2m - next year and in each of the following three years. This cut £8m in total from the planned £37m spend up to 2025 - a cut of 22%.
Now council officers have released figures showing that the number of side roads in Hertfordshire that need of repair has nearly doubled since last year - increasing from 7% to 12%.
County Councillor Stephen Giles-Medhurst (Lib Dem Group Leader and Highways Spokesperson) said:
"The Conservatives claimed that our side roads had improved over recent years and said they did not need to spend this money as the roads were in such good condition. Residents knew this was not true and the facts now show that!"
"This is a kick in the teeth, not just for motorists but also for cyclists. The impact that will be felt by cyclists is particularly disappointing given that the County should be encouraging residents to change to more sustainable forms of transport"
At the beginning of December, the Liberal Democrats proposed restoring this budget cut and increasing spending on pavement repairs.
But once again the Tories voted them down and carried on with their cuts!