We’ve a hole lot of trouble
ONE IN FIVE OF OUR MINOR ROADS NEED REPAIRS WITHIN YEAR, REPORT STATES
A survey of Kirklees’ neighbourhood streets has found one in five are littered with potholes.
The Department for Transport has revealed what proportion of the unclassified road network in the borough is in disrepair.
Unclassified roads are the most minor roads, such as residential streets that carry lower volumes of traffic.
But in Kirklees they make up 77% of the total adopted road network, far higher than most areas.
While Kirklees’ A, B and C class roads are in good condition but the 2018/19 survey found 21% of the minor road network was categorised as “red” by inspectors.
That’s compared to 15% of the network in 2017/18.
The 6% increase comes in the wake of an exceptionally cold winter that saw the so-called ‘Beast from the East’ batter the roads of Britain.
The red rating means that when these roads were surveyed they had a wide range of surface damage and deterioration and were expected to need maintenance within the next 12 months.
The figures come as the Department for Transport said it would put pressure on the Treasury for a long-term funding plan to tackle potholes on local roads.
Kirklees Council is responsible for maintaining most of the roads in Kirklees.
In recent years it has received a number of multi-million cash boosts to tackle the pothole backlog.
Looking at B and C roads, only 4% of the network in Kirklees is classed as category red. That’s compared to a national average of 6% – although different parts of the country use different systems to measure disrepair, meaning the statistics are not consistent. Only 3% of principal A roads in Kirklees were classed as category red. The 21% of Kirklees unclassifed roads rated as red is 5% higher than the England average.