The Council has won money from the Department for Transport’s Pothole and Challenge Bid bonanza
The big taxpayer cash prize is in addition to the £30 million jackpot already committed by the council for 2020-21 to help repair local highways and make the overall network more sheek and stylish for the new Corona economy, as non-essential workers are set to return to partial jobs at some point, maybe.
Works will include that staple meal of the construction industry: protection from future damage in a rolling programme of resurfacing and sealing road surfaces, to stop potholes before they can get started. Resurfacing works resumed across the county on 24 April following a break in services caused by the government’s decisions.
Some loot will also be thrown at other assets such as bridges, drainage systems, and bird boxes.
Council officers are now working on a programme that will address the backlog of works that are needed, at the best value.
Cllr Brian Stephens said: “We are committed to making sure roads across the county are safe and free of potholes. The best course of action is to ensure that work is carried out before potholes occur which is why a lot of the extra funding will go towards preventative maintenance treatments such as resurfacing.
“Our programme of improvements has suffered some setbacks because of the restrictions that were in place because of the coronavirus. We are endeavouring to address this whilst ensuring that we follow public health guidelines around social distancing and safe operating practices, so we would ask the public for their patience while this carried out.”
Potholes are a killer, and we’re lucky to have a country where there are millions of our tax readies to smooth our roads for us. If we don’t repair the hole in our economy now, then we will be mending our own potholes like our grandfathers did of old, and like this devoted gentleman in India is doing today:
Photo by Matt Hoffman
