Council has fixed 3,000 potholes since January
BRISTOL City Council has fixed nearly 3,000 potholes since January, but despite its efforts, public satisfaction with the local authority’s performance has fallen.
The council says it has repaired 2,950 potholes so far this year, and that this is an 11 per cent increase on this time last year.
But a recent survey shows that public satisfaction with the number of potholes, and how the council deals with them, is lower than it was in 2019.
The 2020 National Highway and Transport Public Satisfaction Survey shows that 28 per cent of respondents are satisfied with the number of potholes on Bristol’s roads and 37 per cent are satisfied with how the council deals with them.
These results are, respectively, four and six percentage points lower than they were last year, when the council was one of the leading local authorities in the country in terms of public satisfaction with roads maintenance.
Its performance is still on or above the national average this year, where, across the country, 28 per cent of the public are satisfied with the number of potholes and 35 per cent are satisfied with how their council deals with potholes and damaged roads.
Overall, the survey shows, public satisfaction with roads maintenance in Bristol lies at 54 per cent, above the national average of 50 per cent.
It comes after the Government gave Bristol City Council £2.64million to tackle potholes from a £500million fund announced in the Budget in March.
A council spokesperson said: “Each year the council makes thousands of repairs to Bristol’s transport network, with 2020 being no different. Since January, we have repaired a total of 7,840 defects (including 2,950 potholes), an 11 per cent increase on this time last year.
“We are leading the way in the region, with our Highway Maintenance team achieving above national average across several areas including speed, performance and quality of maintenance.
“The recent £2.6million from the government’s Pothole Action Fund will further boost our ability to develop the transport network, and carry out preventative work and repairs across our 1,000km of carriageway and nearly 2,000km of footways.
“Following Covid-19, we’ve seen changes in the way people travel around the city, with more choosing to walk and cycle. Despite the challenges of the pandemic, our Highways team have continued to work to ease congestion to make our highways safe for all road users, while ensuring public safety.
“As always, we encourage anyone who spots a pothole to report it online at www.bristol.gov.uk/ streets-travel/damaged-road-footpath or by calling 0117 922 2100.”