Potholes ‘as big has people’ have turned road into a ‘war zone’

Hundreds of people have demanded action to fix a road which they claim is more like a carriageway in a war zone.

The stretch of the A1301 in Cambridgeshire is riddled with potholes, some of which are big enough for residents to lie down in.

They have started a petition calling on Cambridgeshire County Council to resurface the road properly, rather than carry out fill-in repairs, which they say quickly deteriorate.

The petition, launched by Green Party members Miranda Fyfe and Lee Denison, has garnered hundreds of signatures in just five days.

They wrote: ‘The patch-on-patch effect is atrocious, and is clearly not working given the sheer number of highway reports along the road; residents quite rightly feel unheard by the council.’

Green Party candidate for Shelford, Miranda, has been monitoring the worsening condition of the road for months.

‘One local pothole, which I first noticed in late October when it was only dinner-plate size, has now grown to be big enough for me to lie down in,’ she said.

‘That’s despite multiple online reports, plus I’d raised it with our Liberal Democrat councillors in November.’

The petition aims to secure urgent resurfacing of the A1301 from Granham’s Road to the Hauxton Road junction.

One resident said: ‘This road and cycle lane are a busy commuter path and as a resident of this road I am continually observing cars and lorries swerving to avoid potholes.’

Another added: ‘The road looks like a road that you would see in a war zone, and it is shocking that it has been in this state for so long.’

The petition highlights the escalating safety risks for all road users, noting that drivers are experiencing repeated vehicle damage and cyclists are being forced into traffic due to the lack of a segregated cycle lane.

It also says the planned resurfacing works between Granham’s Road and Station Road don’t adequately resolve the poor road conditions.

Many residents say they have stopped cycling because of safety fears, while others are driving a six-mile diversion via Duxford to avoid this stretch of road.

Residents have also raised concerns that potholes are dangerous enough to threaten cyclists and often fail to meet the council’s threshold for emergency repair, leaving hazardous defects unaddressed for extended periods.

Green Party candidate and Shelford resident Lee Denison said: ‘The current appalling state of Cambridge Road is a failure of the Lib Dem-controlled county council to address the needs of Shelford area residents, and they must now fund the repair of this road.’

A council spokesperson said: ‘Work to resurface a section of the A1301 is due to commence in April and finish in early May. Funding for this project was approved in March 2025.

‘Since then, we are aware that additional stretches of the road have deteriorated, which are not covered by the approved budget and that this is causing concern. The road is regularly inspected, and we are continuing to repair potholes as they are identified.’

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