Frustrated driver criticises overgrown foliage making RBWM road signs ‘illegible’

A frustrated driver has criticised the ‘ridiculous’ state of overgrown foliage around the Royal Borough that is rendering important road signs completely ‘illegible’.

Shah Rouf, a private hire driver in the Windsor, Maidenhead, and Ascot areas, alerted the Advertiser to the increasing difficulty he faces in reading information signs.

“I’ve noticed this year that I can hardly read any warning signs, any speed limit and any information sign,” said the Holyport resident.

“About 90 per cent of them are illegible.”

Recent examples include signs for speed limits and bends on Ascot Road, Drift Road, Holyport Road and Maidenhead Road.

He said areas around Windsor are generally ‘up to keeping’, which he attributes to the concentrated tourism, but the ‘state of roads’ elsewhere is ‘ridiculous’.

“It’s more dangerous for road users. I’m fortunate to know [the area] like the back of my hand, but if you weren’t to know this area, it’s very problematic,” he said.

Shah is training to be a driving instructor and is teaching his three children, but he said they have difficulty reading road markings, as the signs on the pavement ‘can’t be read anymore’.

The 45-year-old has been driving professionally in the borough since 2007 and said he’s ‘never seen anything like the state of it this year’.

“It’s the worst it's ever been. There are signs in the foliage, hidden away, so 20 metres away it’s going to look green and you’re not going to see a sign at all,” he added.

“It’s dangerous. If someone has the unfortunate event of having an accident… I would advise you to backtrack and see if you can read any signs or if they’re covered by vegetation.

“The council [has] a certain duty to make sure that these road signs are visible.

“The lack of trimming stuff is just ridiculous.

“I don't know if they’re turning a blind eye on it this year or if it’s the weather, but it’s like all the trees have just shot out.

“It’s like all the vegetation and branches have gone way past [the verge], like they missed a year of trimming.”

He first noticed the problem in April and reported the issue to the lead member for highways, Cllr Geoff Hill, but said ‘nothing has been done’ since.

Shah said the council was ‘much more on top of it’ before subcontracting the job of trimming vegetation to Tivoli, which is under the environmental remit.

“Funding issues don't come before health and safety on the roads – for telling you it’s a dangerous bend,” he said.

“The signs are massive, but you cannot read left for Fifield, right for Shurlock Row or straight for Maidenhead.”

Cllr Geoff Hill said he ‘takes the point that sometimes the growth gets a little bit too much’.

“We struggle to keep up sometimes, but we do our very best,” he told the Advertiser.

“We are on to this. I’m happy to send people out and get the specific instances cut back – it is something we do perpetually – going around and cutting back foliage.

“I do agree that the previous Conservative administration wrote some awful contracts, and we won’t get out of those contracts until they hit renewal.

“We’re stuck with pushing as hard as we can to get what we need from the existing contractor.”

The council was contacted for additional comment.