Brighton: Anger at wonky yellow lines and undulating road surface

Potholes are already forming on resurfaced city centre streets with yellow lines either missing or wonky.

But the council insists the works are good value for money and will get better in several months' time.

It is part of a scheme to resurface 47 roads across Brighton and Hove using a cheaper technique called micro-resurfacing - where a thin layer of asphalt is set on top of the existing surface.

People living in Camelford Street, Brighton, say the undulating road surface and wonky yellow lines are worse than the previous state of the road.

A parked car making the most of the unfinished lines in Burlington Street (Image: Andrew Gardner / The Argus)

"We expected something a little bit better. It is like a ploughed field," said Chris Cage, 65.

"It took them about two hours after we were told it would take four days."

The added layer means the road surface is higher than it was before - in parts level with the pavement which some fear could pose a flooding risk.

The yellow lines even stopped where building material, which was moved by the contractors, was placed (Image: Andrew Gardner / The Argus)

Double yellow lines in Camelford Street, Margaret Street, Wentworth Street and Burlington Street are all wonky and at parts not there.

It is believed that the council-appointed contractor found cars parked it in the when they arrived to spray the road.

Wonky lines in Wentworth Street (Image: Andrew Gardner / The Argus)

Now, drivers are making the most of the free city-centre parking where there are no lines.

Robert Brown, Liberal Democrat candidate who stood in the May by-election for Kemptown, told The Argus: "Kemptown in particular has had numerous issues with the resurfacing of most of the roads, with new potholes already appearing, stop-and-start resurfacing of the roads, many missed patches and redrawn lines that are at best basic, at worst negligent. 

Unlike other yellow lines in the city, these are sprayed on to the existing surface rather than being slightly raised - the old surface can still be seen through the tarmac (Image: Andrew Gardner / The Argus)

"Many of the yellow lines, for example, are not full lines and the workmen stopped and started depending on where the cars were parked.

"We were so excited to finally have our roads fixed, but this turned to disappointment when we saw the way in which they were being done.

The lines are much brighter than their predecessors (Image: Andrew Gardner / The Argus)

"Brighton and Hove City Council should not be paying for this ‘maintenance’ until work has been made good and residents should also be involved in the approval of any works done in their street."

Councillor Trevor Muten, cabinet member for transport, parking and public realm, says the treatment will help prolong the life of the city's roads by up to ten years - at a fraction of the cost of a proper resurfacing.

The road closures were meant to take several days but instead lasted only hours (Image: Andrew Gardner / The Argus)

He said: "Yellow lines are not added until a site has been swept, often not until up to 48 hours after surfacing work has been completed.

"In this instance an additional delay created by poor weather meant parking restrictions had ended, cars had returned and our contractor could not complete all the lines.

“Where this is the case and where lines which have been added are clearly not straight, we have made it clear we expect our contractor to return to complete the work and make sure it is to a satisfactory standard consistent with the council’s specification.”