Council’s potholes policy is paying off, according to figures

Only 1.5 per cent of Lincolnshire’s 654 miles of council-run A roads are plagued by potholes or bumps.
The kind of potholes that infuriate motorists.The kind of potholes that infuriate motorists.
The kind of potholes that infuriate motorists.

Surprise statistics show that under ten miles of the road network across the county are judged to be in need of maintenance.

Inspections in 2018 were carried out by scanner machines, identifying sections of road worn by use or affected by ruts, bumps and potholes.

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And the figure for Lincolnshire was down from 1.9 per cent in 2016, even though the county council has had to cut its spending.

For B roads, the figure is 2.6 per cent in need of maintenance, down from 3.5 per cent in 2016, and for C roads, it is 5.4 per cent, down from 6.5 per cent.

Coun Richard Davies, executive member for highways at the council, said: “With 5,500 miles of road to maintain in total and only limited funding, we have to prioritise our busiest routes.

“But these figures reflect that our efforts are paying off, although there is clearly more work to be done.

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“We have spent about £61 million on highways maintenance in the past year, with a further £66 million earmarked for repairs this year.

“Although that sounds like a lot of money, it’s nowhere near the hundreds of millions we would need to bring our roads up to the standard we’d like. So we continue to push the government for fairer funding for Lincolnshire.

“If councils here received the national average, we’d benefit from £116 million of extra funding every year. That would make a massive difference.”

The statistics show that 29 per cent of the county’s unclassified roads, or small lanes, are needing maintenance.