Cheshire East Council’s new Cabinet member in charge of the environment is leading its war on potholes which will be boosted by a £25m cash investment over the next two years.
Severe flooding has put huge strain on the roads and the Council is now working to radically improve the highway network.
The Council has repaired more than 46,000 potholes since April 1, 2012, at a cost of £1m and now aims to fix another 42,000 by the end of this summer.
To help with the battle against potholes, Cheshire East Council’s highways team continues to use the Velocity patcher.
Councillor David Topping (pictured) said: “Successive bad winters and under-investment by the former Cheshire County Council has left our roads in a bad way. Now, Cheshire East Council is working extremely hard to keep the network in a safe condition.
“With road conditions deteriorating and new potholes forming rapidly, the Council is experiencing a backlog of defects so we must prioritise repairs during the remaining winter months. This means busy commuter routes will be treated before, say, residential cul-de-sacs which have less traffic.
“But we are determined to get on top of the problem using the latest technology Velocity patcher combined with traditional highway patching and maintenance activities.
“By adopting this approach, we are expecting to address more than 42,000 potholes by the end of summer and resolve a significant number of defects that have formed in residential areas that can’t be treated during the winter months.”
The money will be spent during the next two years and includes more than £2 million secured from the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement for national road improvements.
During the past three weeks, the Council’s dedicated hotline to report potholes across the network has received more than 2,000 enquiries from road users and the Council is grateful to them for taking the time to report defects.
