Road repairs highest priority for council’s highways service

Cheshire East Council’s highways service is working flat out to deal with the increasing number of road defects caused by fluctuating winter temperatures. 

Each day, Cheshire East Highways teams are repairing an average of 150 road defects, including potholes, and re-surfacing up to 300 square metres of highway to make the borough’s roads safe for residents.

Defects are categorised according to a national standard of acceptable road surface quality.

The council recognises that residents are concerned about the number of potholes appearing on our roads and our highways service is working throughout the borough to address the problem on a priority basis.

The council is directing additional resources by increasing the number of teams tackling potholes from 12 to 19.  

Councillor Don Stockton, cabinet member with responsibility for highways, said: “We are in a similar position to many other local authorities.

“Repeated fluctuations in weather conditions – from above to below freezing – coupled with heavy rainfall, create the worst possible conditions for road surfaces, and result in an increase in the number of potholes.

“I would like our residents to be aware that we are working each day to address this problem. However, cold and wet weather conditions are not conducive to carrying out effective and lasting repairs. This means that in order to ensure the roads remain safe, some of the works are of a temporary nature.

“It has always been our policy, and that of other authorities, to work this way. The bulk of our annual road repair budget is invested in the summer months when working conditions are better and we can deliver longer, lasting repairs.

“All reported potholes and road defects are inspected and we have directed additional resources towards tackling the problem. We have a code of practice which states that necessary repairs are completed within a specified timescale and we have a reporting tool on the Cheshire East highways website so that our residents can alert us to a new defect.

“Over the last four years, we have invested £35m to maintain our road network and we will continue to invest in our roads to make them safe.”

People can report any issues directly to us via our online reporting tool at: www.cheshireeast.gov.uk/highways or by calling 0300 1235020.

The council’s code of practice can be accessed at: http://bit.ly/2mPjx9Z