Yesterday, I paid over £200 road tax for a 1242cc, unleaded petrol vehicle, which in itself, I would consider this demand to be extremely high, especially when I have to drive up and down School Road, Onchan, on a daily basis.
The reason why I have specifically mentioned School Road is because a year or two ago, on the left side, going up the road, approximately a metre or so from the pavement, and having a length of approximately a third to half the way up the road, had been dug up for maintenance work by one of the services.
The condition of the making good for that part of the road, can best be described, as the work carried out by two, have-a-go jobbers, not having the correct equipment nor sufficient materials for completing the work.
In short, the repair work is very uneven and very bumpy, causing unnecessary wear on vehicles suspensions, from continuously driving over it.
It was obvious that no one from the Department of Infrastructure had bothered to inspect the work upon completion.
In off-peak times, drivers tend to try driving out from this bumpy section, but at busy times many cars have to drive over this very uneven road section.
To add to this poor road section, motorists driving down School Road, face a pothole of reasonable size approximately four to five metres before the halt sign.
There are also sections of the road, showing signs of breaking up, typically near the crossing, where the lollipop man stands opposite the school entrance.
The road is also subjected to heavy vehicles and is on a bus route.
These heavy vehicles, such as wagons and four-by-four cars, would appear to be accelerating the poor condition of the road.
It is amazing that directly opposite the School Road halt sign a section of the road and pavement – where road maintenance was carried out, a few days ago by sub-contractors, – was quickly and efficiently carried out, and was left in a condition, with the appearance that it had been carried out by professionals.
It goes without saying that numerous people have frequently complained about the shoddy state of School Road, a busy road, but nothing has been done.
Perhaps this year’s excessive road tax will be able to finance the work, which is now considered by all, to be desperately required, by those expected to pay the current excessive road tax.
Michael Leather
Springfield Court
Onchan
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This letter was first published in the Manx Independent of April 20.