B3055 Bashley Cross Road near New Milton finally set for repairs
Work to repair a potholed New Forest road branded a “car wrecker” is finally set to start next week.
The B3055 Bashley Cross Road, near New Milton, hit the headlines earlier this year when at least seven cars were damaged in one night, hitting one of its myriad holes.
In December, severe flooding from torrential rainfall “accelerated deterioration of the road surface”, according to Hampshire County Council, which shut the road.
It was then reopened with lights and eventually fully opened, but with little discernable improvement in the surface.
An HCC spokesperson has now said repairs are on the way after work to prevent further flooding: “Our highways team has completed improvements to the surface water drainage system along the B3055 which should reduce the risk of flooding.
“Urgent carriageway repairs were carried out at the same time with more being planned for later this year.”
Signs have gone up saying the road will be closed for five days starting next Thursday, and motorcycling legend Sammy Miller – owner of the museum which bears his name on the notorious road – is furious it has taken so long.
“I have just received a letter from them stating that they’re finally going to repair the road on 16th May. Welcome news after five months,” he told the A&T.
“These monster potholes/car wreckers on ‘Beehive Hill’ have been unattended to for five months now by the very inefficient Hampshire Highways team.
“It is clear that this inefficiency is not just a one-off but is being repeated throughout the county. In Stem Lane a drain cover was displaced six months ago and we still have barricades up around it despite workmen having attended the site on several occasions.
“How come years ago there was no problem, and potholes were just repaired without having to involve a team of paperwork passengers?”
He added: “This situation is having a detrimental effect on many drivers throughout Hampshire.
“It is also important to our many visitors to the New Forest that the roads are improved, as their unfamiliarity with Hampshire’s potholes probably means many of their holidays currently end in tears.”
