Winter is coming – and we’re prepared
Tuesday, 14 November 2023
It’s not just gritters getting ready for roads this winter season. Work is well underway as we steps up efforts to prevent and repair potholes, and make reporting them easier and more transparent.
We've invested this year in preventative treatments and resurfacing of nearly 65 miles of roads, an increase of 150% compared to last year. Much of this has been surface dressing, a cost-effective measure that helps prevent potholes developing and reduces the need for full resurfacing later.
Roads receiving this treatment were those where damage is more likely to occur. When it does, data and other intelligence will look at traffic volume, and risk to drivers and pedestrians, to ensure the most needed repairs are dealt with first. In practice, this will mean prioritising those roads that take the highest amount of traffic or serve a strategic purpose.
With winter inevitably causing some damage to roads, another part of the pothole plan is an easier to use, better reporting system. FixMyStreet will continue to be the go-to for people who want to report a pothole, but the system has been improved to provide better updates and information on what happens when a repair is reported.
Councillor Simon Ford, our Executive Member for Highways and Waste said:
As a new administration, we’re committed to stepping up our efforts in the annual fight against potholes and other damage to roads. Winter weather will have an impact no matter what we do, and our resources are still limited, so we’ll always have to prioritise work. This is about us working more cost-effectively and being clearer with residents about what we’re doing and why.
We want people to keep reporting damage on FixMyStreet where, over the next few weeks, they will find an improved system that provides better updates and information on what happens when a repair is reported to us. It’s also clearer about reports we have already received, hopefully helping us avoid receiving multiple reports of the same issues.