Extra £5m cash allocated to tackle county’s roads

PLANS to inject an extra £5m into fixing and maintaining Leicestershire’s roads have been unveiled.

The county council wants to use the money to prevent more potholes and ramp up its long-lasting resurfacing programme to stop defects occurring in the first place.

Following the harsh winter, latest figures show: • Around 1,760 outstanding patching jobs needed to

address potholes and other defects – growing by around 20 each week; • Each piece of preventative work can stop up to 25

potholes forming.

The extra income is generated from recent investments including rents from properties purchased over the last year. It’s on top of a further £8m of funding already directed towards highways maintenance in recent years. The total road maintenance budget for 2018/19 is now £24m.

Coun Blake Pain, cabinet member for environment and transport, said: “Although our roads are still some of the best around, our spend on maintenance is set to decrease by £7m by 2020 following national funding reductions.

“The harsh winter has taken its toll – in January, we received three times as many calls about potholes compared to January 2017. And we recognise the cost to business and inconvenience to people who use our roads.

“This extra money means we can prevent more potholes occurring. And importantly, it enables us to resurface and seal many more miles of road. Not only does this prolong their life, it improves journeys for residents and reduces the need for roadworks.”

Coun Byron Rhodes, cabinet member for resources, said: “This extra investment in front line services clearly highlights the benefits of the county council’s asset investment programme.”