Speedy pothole repairs under new plan

Potholes on Lancashire's busiest roads could be fixed quicker under new plans from Lancashire County Council.
Potholes on Ringway, PrestonPotholes on Ringway, Preston
Potholes on Ringway, Preston

The revised plan suggests that potholes are fixed on the busiest roads first.

The policy also introduced new repair targets – potholes which are 15cm or more deep, and 30cm or more wide, must be fixed within one day.

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While on the busiest roads, potholes 30cm wide and 4cm deep must be repaired within five working days.

The council says that the new policy will focus on the pothoels most likely to cause a safety risk or damage to cars.

It will also introduce a new monitoring system so the council can monitor how quickly pothoels are beign repaired.

County Councillor Keith

Iddon, cabinet member for highways and transport, said: “This more rigorous regime means we’ll be able to better monitor our performance, hold ourselves to account, and ensure we’re directing resources where they’re most needed.

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“I’m aware that the wet and freezing weather we’ve been experiencing lately means we have a lot of potholes to repair at the moment, and these conditions can lead to a small crack becoming a potentially dangerous pothole very quickly.

“We’re repairing them as soon as we can, and people will start to notice the difference as the weather improves and fewer potholes are appearing.

“This revised policy will help to ensure that we’re focused on repairing the worst damage quickly to ensure our roads

are safe. Our budget proposal to council next week includes an extra £5m to repair potholes.”

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“We have inspectors working year-round to check our roads are safe. Our repair gangs fix any defects found

from this work as well as responding to reports from the public.

“Safety is always our top priority, and we already aim to respond quickly to serious defects and emergency situations.

“However the way we currently monitor performance does not reflect this risk-based approach, as the target we set ourselves is to repair all potholes within 20 working days. Whilst this is a good thing to achieve, it is also important that we prioritise the most serious defects and busiest roads and the revised policy makes this much clearer.”

The policy will be debated at today's meeting of the county council's cabinet.