Shropshire calls for more government funding to deal with potholes

Shropshire Council says teams have repaired 16,227 potholes to the end of January compared to almost 13,000 in each of the whole of the previous two years.

A report to councillors says the total roads budget available to Shropshire Highways in recent years has been £3,603 per mile less than the national average, and officers and members have supported the local authority lobbying of government.

In his report to today's place overview committee, director of place Mark Barrow says that nationally, highway authorities are managing a deteriorating asset due to the diminishing levels of real terms funding for highways over many years. That, combined with an increased demand for services, stretches the limited resources available for maintenance, councillors will be told.

"It is recognised that potholes have been one of the biggest concerns of road users and seeking to improve the council approach to these has been a key focus of the service," the report says.

Nationally surveys show that approximately 21 per cent of local authority roads are considered to be in poor condition and in need of major repair, an increase from 13 per cent in 2015.

"Whilst the situation in Shropshire is somewhat better, with only 15 per cent of the network in poor condition, the situation has deteriorated rapidly since the Beast from East storm in 2018/19," says the report.

"This is becoming a significant problem on the county’s more rural routes which saw a deterioration in from 16.1 per cent to 21.7 per cent of unclassified roads considered to be in poor condition."

The report points out that almost 16,000 potholes were reported on the network between November and January alone, compared to 11,000 during the same period last year.

Gullies

It says that the highways service has made improvements in the way in which it is maintaining pot holes, with the teams repairing 16,227 potholes to the end of January compared to almost 13,000 in each of the whole of the previous two years.

"Of these only 25 per cent were completed with a temporary repair to maintain safety compared to almost 75 per cent last year. The vast majority therefore are fixed first time without need for a subsequent visit. The unit cost of the activity has also fallen steeply with 45 per cent more work being completed for £1.45m less than the same work would have cost last year."

Highway teams have also cleaned an average of 2,000 gullies per week, compared to 2,000 per month the previous year.

"Much of these improvements have been achieved through improving the collaboration between the council and its contractors, enabling Kier to specify the right solutions at an earlier stage and developing its own in-house works team to supplement the Kier workforce. This team primarily undertakes more simple repairs on the rural network to allow Kier to focus their resources on the more complex issues. The team also undertake repairs on the drainage systems connecting gullies, many of which have fallen into disrepair, another common problem across the country."

"The highway asset is deteriorating, and as with the case with all highway authorities there is insufficient funding to be able to address all of the roads in need of repair in the medium term.

"Undertaking surface dressing at a timely stage when cracks begin to appear in the surface of the road can stop the deterioration of the road and remove the need for significantly more costly repairs t a later date. The service is therefore seeking to balance funding between preventing roads currently in a reasonable state of repair deteriorating further and repairing roads that are already in poor condition."

"The stopping of water ingress into cracks in the carriageway is essential to maintaining the network in good condition. The service has therefore significantly increased the amount of activity being undertaken on drainage and is now cleaning considerably more gullies each month than in recent years."