News story

Pothole fund boosted to repair roads after winter damage

A further £100 million is being given to councils to help repair potholes and protect local roads from future severe weather.

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Greater information on the pothole action fund was part of the Roads information funding pack released in June 2020.

Pothole

Local roads badly affected by recent winter weather will benefit from a further £100 million to help repair any potholes and other storm damage, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling announced today (26 March 2018).

This money will help repair almost 2 million potholes as well as help protect the roads from any future severe weather.

This is on top of the £75 million in government funding already given to councils from the Pothole Action Fund this year, as well as the additional £46 million boost for highways authorities announced just before Christmas. Around 7 million potholes will be filled due to this money, announced in the 2016 Budget.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said:

People rely on good roads to get to work and to see friends or family.

We have seen an unusually prolonged spell of freezing weather which has caused damage to our local roads.

We are giving councils even more funding to help repair their roads so all road users can enjoy their journeys without having to dodge potholes.

Already, £2.5 million has been allocated to Devon County Council to quickly repair the A379 which was badly damaged by Storm Emma.

The government is also investing more than £900,000 in innovations using connected vehicles to help councils more efficiently manage and plan maintenance works. These trials will ultimately help provide councils with data to enable them to repair potholes before they occur as well as maintain their other assets more effectively as part of their asset management plans. This will help prevent further potholes and other road defects occurring over time.

Pothole spending

Blackpool Council has been given £100,000 to lead on a digital inspector scheme with 8 councils. This will see high definition cameras mounted on vehicles to collect data on road and path conditions, which is then analysed by computers to highlight where roads are deteriorating. The City of York will also get £72,000 to use a similar system to build on its pothole spotter trial.

Transport for the West Midlands, West Sussex County Council, Buckinghamshire County Council, Croydon Council and Southampton City Council have also been awarded funding for road condition monitoring innovations. Swindon Borough Council will trial the use of smartphone sensors to collate road conditions and Essex County Council will work with Daimler to use information collected by its cars. Derby City Council and Oxfordshire County Council will use connected vehicles to collect data on the condition of road signs.

Westminster City Council will trial the use of cameras to provide real-time updates so people can locate parking spaces easier.

The department is also providing £30,000 to the Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning and Transport (ADEPT) to work on technological and innovative improvements to future-proof the local road network.

This fund is on top of the record £6 billion the government is providing local authorities between 2015 and 2021 to maintain and improve their roads.

Pothole/flood resilience funding

Area Name Pothole/flood resilience funding £97.5 millon allocation (£)
North East North East CA 4,533,373
North West Greater Manchester CA 2,882,002
North West Liverpool City Region CA 1,860,126
Yorkshire and The Humber Sheffield City Region CA 1,364,732
Yorkshire and The Humber West Yorkshire CA 3,107,703
West Midlands West Midlands ITA 1,702,946
North East County Durham UA 1,296,639
North East Darlington UA 185,229
North East Hartlepool UA 136,775
North East Middlesbrough UA 147,147
North East Northumberland UA 1,849,720
North East Redcar and Cleveland UA 246,208
North East Stockton-on-Tees UA 270,003
North East Gateshead 279,456
North East Newcastle upon Tyne 296,781
North East North Tyneside 265,372
North East South Tyneside 183,836
North East Sunderland 361,570
North West Blackburn with Darwen UA 178,365
North West Blackpool UA 146,983
North West Cheshire East UA 1,081,305
North West Cheshire West and Chester UA 892,090
North West Halton UA 212,684
North West Warrington UA 325,886
North West Cumbria 2,859,217
North West Bolton 318,470
North West Bury 200,241
North West Manchester 438,956
North West Oldham 269,365
North West Rochdale 247,494
North West Salford 268,154
North West Stockport 297,212
North West Tameside 228,036
North West Trafford 244,119
North West Wigan 369,956
North West Lancashire 2,393,218
North West Knowsley 215,689
North West Liverpool 481,702
North West Sefton 311,440
North West St. Helens 259,687
North West Wirral 378,923
Yorkshire and The Humber East Riding of Yorkshire UA 1,251,395
Yorkshire and The Humber Kingston upon Hull, City of UA 205,595
Yorkshire and The Humber North East Lincolnshire UA 223,298
Yorkshire and The Humber North Lincolnshire UA 529,807
Yorkshire and The Humber York UA 256,632
Yorkshire and The Humber North Yorkshire 3,285,049
Yorkshire and The Humber Barnsley 412,485
Yorkshire and The Humber Doncaster 541,934
Yorkshire and The Humber Rotherham 410,314
Yorkshire and The Humber Sheffield 0
Yorkshire and The Humber Bradford 595,461
Yorkshire and The Humber Calderdale 385,751
Yorkshire and The Humber Kirklees 629,186
Yorkshire and The Humber Leeds 989,926
Yorkshire and The Humber Wakefield 507,378
East Midlands Derby UA 230,810
East Midlands Leicester UA 260,236
East Midlands Nottingham UA 242,057
East Midlands Rutland UA 213,766
East Midlands Derbyshire 2,035,992
East Midlands Leicestershire 1,560,176
East Midlands Lincolnshire 3,457,324
East Midlands Northamptonshire 1,630,762
East Midlands Nottinghamshire 1,635,629
West Midlands Herefordshire, County of UA 1,252,647
West Midlands Shropshire UA 1,858,807
West Midlands Stoke-on-Trent UA 271,391
West Midlands Telford and Wrekin UA 347,983
West Midlands Staffordshire 2,203,545
West Midlands Warwickshire 1,415,650
West Midlands Birmingham 0
West Midlands Coventry 276,480
West Midlands Dudley 331,366
West Midlands Sandwell 313,551
West Midlands Solihull 278,680
West Midlands Walsall 261,690
West Midlands Wolverhampton 241,180
West Midlands Worcestershire 1,627,557
East of England Bedford UA 305,589
East of England Central Bedfordshire UA 495,565
East of England Luton UA 130,996
East of England Peterborough UA 334,006
East of England Southend-on-Sea UA 142,545
East of England Thurrock UA 213,231
East of England Cambridgeshire 1,608,546
East of England Essex 2,602,886
East of England Hertfordshire 1,801,196
East of England Norfolk 3,448,743
East of England Suffolk 2,454,918
South East Bracknell Forest UA 174,074
South East Brighton and Hove UA 188,705
South East Isle of Wight UA 0
South East Medway UA 280,565
South East Milton Keynes UA 389,883
South East Portsmouth UA 154,934
South East Reading UA 134,681
South East Slough UA 91,408
South East Southampton UA 190,285
South East West Berkshire UA 467,317
South East Windsor and Maidenhead UA 240,894
South East Wokingham UA 282,055
South East Buckinghamshire 1,187,081
South East East Sussex 1,177,912
South East Hampshire 2,956,522
South East Kent 3,058,239
South East Oxfordshire 1,831,494
South East Surrey 1,878,063
South East West Sussex 1,594,870
South West Bath and North East Somerset UA 379,059
South West Bournemouth UA 157,232
South West Bristol, City of UA 357,387
South West Cornwall UA 2,572,746
South West North Somerset UA 383,954
South West Plymouth UA 228,539
South West Poole UA 173,296
South West South Gloucestershire UA 504,258
South West Swindon UA 270,224
South West Torbay UA 163,108
South West Wiltshire UA 1,811,343
South West Devon* 4,446,606
South West Dorset 1,490,177
South West Gloucestershire 1,998,120
South West Somerset 2,437,335

*Devon will also receive £2.5 million for the A379 road repairs as announced by the Prime Minister on 7 March 2018.

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Published 26 March 2018