Potholes: all the roads in Preston, Chorley and South Ribble that will be resurfaced this year

The authority’s cabinet approved the provisional list of projects - totalling over 100 individual routes - which will see it spend £15.2m on maintaining and upgrading road surfaces across its patch.

Wyre is in line for the largest number of schemes in the county - 24 - while Preston and Chorley are set for four each and South Ribble gets 10.

The works form part of County Hall’s broader £32.4m highways maintenance grant from the government for 2024/25, from which £5.6m has also been reserved for bridge repairs, as well as allocations for the upkeep of other infrastructure like streetlamps and traffic lights.

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The total pot has this year been bolstered by Lancashire’s £3.6m share of additional highways cash the government has made available nationwide from the money saved by scrapping the northern leg of the HS2 high-speed rail link to Manchester. That has been added to the £28.8m which the county is once again expected to receive from Whitehall for looking after local roads.

Of the extra funding, the county council has put half of it - £1.8m - into its 'local deterioration fund' to respond to carriageway condition issues raised by councillors.

Nevertheless, a report presented to cabinet members still issued its now standard warning that Lancashire is millions of pounds short of the level of funding needed to maintain its roads to a given standard.

It noted that the minimum amount required to manage highways and related infrastructure “within a reasonable level of risk” is estimated to be between £41.7m and £45.2m. To achieve a “sustainable investment level”, even more cash would be needed, of between £51.8m and £56.2million - the upper limit being almost £24m in excess of what Lancashire actually has at its disposal.

The report also described there being “an effective reduction in funding available” this year because of “current inflationary pressures”. The document said the resultant risks included a reduction in the ability to maintain the progress made - and meet the future priorities set - as part of its Transport Asset Management Plan (TAMP).

It is on the basis of that three-phase strategy - which was introduced in 2014 - that the pre-planned surface schemes for the coming financial year have been determined. As in previous years, they are a combination of full resurfacing works and so-called ‘surface dressing’, a special process that not only improves the condition of carriageways, but seals them to prevent future damage caused by water entering cracks in the road.

The focus of the TAMP in its current second phase is on the network of so-called 'urban unclassified' roads - less major, but still well-used routes in built-up areas - having previously focused on the main A, B and C highways.

Meanwhile, the authority expects to spend £10m on as-yet-unknown “structural defects” - aka potholes - that appear during the course of the year. The budget for those reactive repairs includes an earmarked £2m from the £32m highways maintenance grant.

However, the remaining £8m is in addition to that tally and could either come from other funding within the authority's capital and revenue budgets, or as “a last resort”, borrowing, according to the cabinet report.

The document acknowledges that the money needed for unplanned repair work might have to expand to “reflect operational demand” - and so be more than £10m in total. That is because the authority is obliged to repair all potholes that meet the minimum depth at which it commits to act for safety reasons - 40mm.

Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen councils look after the roads in their own areas and receive separate government funding to the county council.

RESURFACING PLANS FOR THE YEAR AHEAD

This is a district-by-district breakdown of all the planned projects in the format: road name - county council division - nature of work

Central Lancashire

PRESTON

***A59, Longsight Road - Preston Rural - surface dressing from Ribchester Road traffic light junction to Mellor Brook roundabout

***Sandygate Lane – Preston Rural - resurfacing full length, including some footway works

***Grizedale Crescent - Preston South East/Preston East Grizedale - surface dressing of Grizedale Crescent and surrounding roads

***Lightfoot Lane - Preston North - surface dressing between junction with Eastway and A6 Garstang; and from outside no. 83A to no. 87 Lightfoot Lane

CHORLEY

***B5252, Myles Standish Way - Chorley Central - resurfacing of three roundabouts

***B5252, Myles Standish Way - Chorley Central - surface dressing of five sections, Ackhurst Road/Foxhole Road-Lower Burgh Way-Myles Standish Way

***Railway Road - surface dressing between Harpers Lane and no. 70 Railway Road and no. 70 to Brock Road; and Corporation Street between Railway Road and no.5.

***Moss Lane - Chorley Rural East - surface dressing from Millennium Way to Preston Road

SOUTH RIBBLE

***Thorngate - Penwortham West - resurfacing of Thorngate and Thorngate Close

***Wesley Street - South Ribble East - resurfacing from Stockdale Crescent to Station Road

***Slater Lane - Moss Side and Farington/Leyland Central/Leyland South - resurfacing from School Lane to St. James Lodge

***Slater Lane - Moss Side and Farington/Leyland Central/Leyland South - surface dressing of two sections between outside St. James Lodge to Mill Lane

***Collins Road North - Lostock Hall and Bamber Bridge - resurfacing from Collins Road to The Crescent

***Hoghton Lane – South Ribble East - resurfacing full length

***Stockdale Crescent - South Ribble East - surface dressing of Stockdale Crescent and surrounding roads

***Church Lane - Moss Side and Farington - surface dressing from Chain House Lane to Croston Road

***St. James Gardens - Moss Side and Farington - surface dressing of full length including cul-de-sacs

***Marsh Lane - South Ribble West - surface dressing from Liverpool Road to Hall Carr Lane

The rest of Lancashire

BURNLEY

***Hillingdon Road - Burnley NorthEast/Burnley Rural - surface dressing of Hillingdon Road and surrounding streets

FYLDE

***Sunny Bank Avenue - Fylde East - resurfacing full length

***Willow Drive - Fylde South - resurfacing from Ribby Avenue to Ribby Road

***Spring Gardens - St. Annes North - resurfacing full length

***Brighton Avenue - St. Annes South - resurfacing full length

***Hilton Avenue - Fylde West - resurfacing full length

***Kilnhouse Lane - St.Annes North - surface dressing from Leach Lane to Queensway

***School Lane - Fylde East - surface dressing from Bryning Lane to Blackpool Road and surrounding roads

***St. Thomas Road - St. Annes South - surface dressing from Church Road to Clifton Drive South

***Bradshaw Lane - Fylde West - surface dressing from M55 motorway bridge to A585, Fleetwood Road

HYNDBURN

***B6232, Elton Road - Oswaldtwistle - resurfacing from Blackburn boundary to the sharp bends at the Rossendale boundary at the start of Grane Road

***B6232, Elton Road - Oswaldtwistle - surface dressing from the Rossendale boundary start of Grane Road to the junction with Holcombe Rd (B6235)

***Wilpshire Road - Great Harwood and Clayton-le-Moors - surface dressing from Blackburn Old Road to Harwood Road

***Eton Avenue - Accrington North - resurfacing full length

***Knowles Street - Great Harwood, Rishton and Clayton-le-Moors - resurfacing from Station Road to Mary Street

***Prospect Street - Great Harwood, Rishton and Clayton-le- Moors - resurfacing from Railway Terrace to St. Huberts Road

***Avenue Parade - Accrington South - surface dressing of Avenue Parade and surrounding roads

LANCASTER

***Main Street (Sunderland Point) - Heysham - resurfacing of various lengths along Main Street, which is a tidal causeway and the only access to Sunderland Point. Works are required to ensure the road remains passable.

***Cork Road - Lancaster South East - resurfacing Cork Road, Ulster Road, Cranwell Avenue and Leinster Road

***Endsleigh Grove - Skerton - resurfacing full length

***Essex Road - Morecambe South - resurfacing full length

***Fleet Green - Skerton - resurfacing full length

***Taylor Grove - Morecambe North - resurfacing full length

***Windsor Road - Morecambe Central - resurfacing full length

***Back Lane - Lancaster Rural East - resurfacing from Ringers Hill Barn east to the junction with Ringers Brow

***Highland Brow - Lancaster Rural East - surface dressing from traffic light junction with A6 Main Road to junction with A6 Main Road

***Gulf Lane - Lancaster Central - resurfacing between Sandside and Crimbles Lane

PENDLE

***Green End Avenue - Pendle Rural - resurfacing from Aspen Lane to New Road

***Rothesay Road - Brierfield and Nelson West - resurfacing full length

***Coates Lane - Pendle Rural - surface dressing of full length and surrounding roads

***Delves Lane -Penle Central/Nelson East - surface dressing from Back Lane to Southfield Lane

RIBBLE VALLEY

***Goosnargh Lane - Ribble Valley South West - resurfacing from Mill Lane to outside the property ‘Melrose’

***George Street - Clitheroe - resurfacing from Woone Street to outside no. 24

ROSSENDALE

***The Hedgerows - Whitworth and Bacup - resurfacing full length

***Longacres Drive - Whitworth and Bacup - resurfacing from Edward Street to Sycamore Lodge

***Parkinson Street - Rossendale West - resurfacing full length

***Queensway - Mid Rossendale - surface dressing of full length from Staghills Road

WEST LANCASHIRE

***Lonsdale Avenue - Ormskirk - resurfacing full length

***Ashcroft Avenue - Ormskirk - resurfacing full length

***Sturgess Close - Ormskirk - resurfacing full length, including some footway works

***New Acres - West Lancashire East - resurfacing full length

***Hurlston Drive - Ormskirk - resurfacing full length

***Ruff Lane - West Lancashire East - surface dressing from Knowsley Road to Beach Meadow

***Black Moss Lane - Ormskirk - surface dressing from Prescott Road to Long Lane

***Stoney Lane - West Lancashire East - resurfacing between large layby gateway to footway towards Chorley Road and from Brandreth Park to Chorley Road

***Lathom Lane - West Lancashire East - resurfacing from Sandy Lane to newly-surfaced stretch

WYRE

***A6, Bypass Road - Wyre Rural East - resurfacing at the traffic light junction of the A6/Cockerham Rd/Croston Rd/GreenLane West/Croston Barn Lane

***A6, Bypass Road - Wyre East - surface dressing of two sections

***A586, Tarnacre Lane - Wyre Rural Central/Wyre Rural East - resurfacing between Oakdene House and Arena House to adjacent Heatherlea House

***A586, Tarnacre Lane - Wyre Rural Central/Wyre Rural East - surface dressing from Heatherlea House to the junction with the A6, Garstang Bypass Road.

***New House Lane - Wyre Rural Central - resurfacing from Morton's Cottages north to near Round Wood

***North Drive - Cleveleys East - resurfacing from Northumberland Avenue to outside no. 656

***Rydal Avenue - Poulton-le-Fylde - resurfacing full length with cul-de-sacs and some footway works

***Bowland Avenue - Fleetwood West/Cleveleys West - resurfacing full lengths of Bowland Avenue and Hornby Avenue

***Leven Avenue - Fleetwood West/Cleveleys West - resurfacing full length from St.John's to Grange Road

***Cartmel Avenue - Fleetwood West/Cleveleys West - resurfacing full lengths of Cartmel Avenue, Beck Court and Silverdale Avenue and also Ennerdale Avenue between junction with Buttermere and outside pub

***Poulton Street - Fleetwood East - resurfacing from Blakiston Street to Harris Street

***The Cove - Fleetwood West and Cleveleys Wes - resurfacing full length

***Sunningdale Drive - Thornton and Hambleton - resurfacing full length

***Tudor Close - Cleveleys South and Carleton - resurfacing full length

***Medway Avenue - Fleetwood West and Cleveleys West - resurfacing full length

***Marina Avenue - Poulton-le-Fylde - resurfacing full length

***Dorchester Close -Thornton and Hambleton - resurfacing full length

***Butts Road - Cleveleys East - Heys Street to John Street

***North Drive - Cleveleys East - surface dressing of four sections between nos. 656 and 439

***Tansy Lane - Wyre Central - resurfacing from Ratcliffle Wharf Lane North to Cockerham Lane

***Bradshaw Lane – Wyre Rural Central - machine patching between Head Dyke Lane and New Lane

***New Lane - Wyre Rural Central - resurfacing between Bradshaw New Lane Lane and Woods Lane

***Black Lane - Wyre Rural East - machine patching between Cartmel Lane and Garstang Road

***Cartmel Lane - Wyre Rural East - resurfacing and patching between Black Lane and Longmore Lane