Councillor Dan Ozarow, Deputy Mayor of Elstree & Borehamwood Town Council, said he is “astonished” by Hertfordshire County Council’s (HCC) response to a petition to deal with “fatality risk” flooding on the border of Radlett and Elstree.
Cllr Ozarow set up the petition, which has almost 300 signatures, in January 2024. The flooding, which cllr Ozarow said has been left unresolved for years, is by Elstree Recycling Centre, near the Watling Street and Allum Lane junction.
Speaking in a personal capacity, he said: “To avoid the water, drivers often swerve into the right-hand lane onto oncoming vehicles.
“This creates the potential for serious road traffic accidents. Over the years, several crashes occurred, with further numerous near misses reported by residents.”
Cllr Ozarow went on to describe the flooding, particularly when it freezes over, as “a tragedy waiting to happen”.
After sending residents’ flooding testimonies dating as far back as 2019 to the Head of Highways at HCC, cllr Ozarow said he was very disappointed with their response.
He claims HCC’s position on the issue was that the petition would need to go through their constitutional process.
Cllr Ozarow said: “Residents are astonished that the county council has allowed the flooding to continue for years and seem to be indifferent to the risk to life with their bureaucratic response.
“A year ago, just down the road on Elstree Hill South, a motorcyclist was almost killed under the wheels of a heavy goods vehicle when he skidded on untreated floodwater that had iced over. Lessons have not been learned.”
A spokesperson for HCC said: “We have an annual programme of cleaning out highway drains, however when there is persistent heavy rain of the sort we have seen recently, the ground can become saturated and drainage systems can be temporarily overwhelmed.
“We’d encourage residents to report blocked drains or flooding on our online fault reporting system at www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/highwayfaults where you can also see how recently each drain has been cleaned. Even if we can’t fix the problem straight away, we can use the information to help us plan our future work programmes.”
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