A ‘speed bump’ on the busy Stanningley Bypass which is believed to have damaged several cars was caused by heat warping recently laid tarmac, the council claims.
Leeds City Council say that the bump – which caused an accident involving five cars on Monday evening – created a ‘sleeping policeman’ and was caused after ‘a joint in the tarmac expanded and raised’ due to the recent heatwave.
A team from highways removed the hump on Monday evening to make the road between the Owlcotes and Swinnow turnoffs safe again.
Anyone whose vehicle was damaged by the bump can make a public liability claim via the council’s website.
But the emergence of the ‘speed bump’ led to motorists venting their anger on social media:
Reported to Leeds City Council Sunday Evening, they did nothing, bad accident Monday Evening around 5:45pm, when there was a 5 car pile up
— Visit Bradford News (@visitbratford) June 21, 2017
One man posted a video on Facebook of his car hitting the bump. He said:
“The bump had been spray painted but it is not easily visible and there were no signs to warn of the danger ahead. The fact that somebody came out, looked at it, half-heartedly spray painted it and then left is beyond belief.
“It is the busiest commuter route between Leeds and Bradford. It has been in awful condition for months if not longer but finally, you started to work on it. However, to find that work has caused what I believe to be an illegal obstruction on a 60mph road is unacceptable.
“Slightly further down the same road is the Leeds-Bradford cycle path which has been implemented at a cost of between £20-30 million, great for those who use it. But would it not have been better to first resurface what is a very broken, extremely busy, road?”
The council is currently carrying out resurfacing works on the eastbound road.
According to one driver today, there are still problems on the road:
They are still there this morning! Nearly had heart attack when my car jumped over them.
— Let's Dab (@LeedsLS12) June 21, 2017
UPDATED 6.55pm: A council spokesperson acknowledged there were ongoing problems with the road due to the heatwave and said a temporary 40 mph speed limit has been implemented on the affected stretch of road.
He said underlying concrete slabs had buckled due to the heat, creating sharp bumps in the road. He urged people to drive carefully and added that council crews would be working overnight to implement repairs.
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