Work to improve Pool-in-Wharfedale’s Main Street will be carried out this financial year, says Leeds Council, at an estimated cost of £28,000.

The highway maintenance stretching from the A659 Pool Road to A659 Arthington Lane is just one of a number of proposed pothole patching and upkeep schemes for the Pool and Arthington area which will cost around £127,200 in all.

Approval to spend the money is expected within the next fortnight with the work hopefully being completed before winter sets in, says Adel & Wharfedale Ward councillor Barry Anderson.

Coun Anderson, who has been pushing for the works to start said the condition of Main Street in particular was concerning residents because pedestrians were being put at risk because of surface water. “Because the pavements in Pool are so low, drivers are often swerving to avoid big puddles in the road and it frightens people on the pavement,” he said. “They think drivers are out of control and something horrific is about to happen. The roads as they are at the moment are hazardous.”

He said he had been “arguing” with Highways to get them to prioritise surface work in Main Street and on other roads nearby for a long time but he welcomed news now that repairs were finally on their way. “No doubt it’s all on the back of the Tour De France coming through but that’s fine if it gets the work done at last! Hopefully it will all be done by autumn at the latest – otherwise the frost will come and undo the repairs and it will cost the Council even more money.”

Other proposed works to be carried out include £89,000 for improving Arthington Lane from Tower Drive to Main Street and more than £3,000 to pothole-patch in the Arthington Lane and Otley Road area including Rawden Hill, The Nunnery, Black Hill Road to Warren Lane and the Pool Parish boundary to Tower Drive.

A footway around the petrol station in Pool Road needs sealing for £2,000 with more pothole-patching needing to be done along a track from Caley Lodge to Moor Road in Otley.