£4.5m fund to tackle the blight of potholes
ROADS in the North East badly hit by by winter weather will benefit from a £4.5million government fund to help repair any potholes and other storm damage, it’s been revealed .
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said the cash is part of a £100million national fund that will help repair almost two million potholes as well as protect the roads from any future severe weather.
He said this money was on top of the £75million in government funding already given to councils from the Pothole Action Fund this year, as well as the additional £46million announced for highways authorities just before Christmas.
Around seven million potholes will be filled due to this money, announced in the 2016 Budget, according to Mr Grayling.
He 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.” From the North East’s £4,533,373 total, Newcastle will get £296,781, County Durham will get £1,296,639, Northumberland £1,849,720 and Gateshead £279,456. Meanwhile, North Tyneside will receive £265,372, South Tyneside £183,836 and Sunderland £361,570. 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.
The department is also providing £30,000 to the Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning and Transport to work on technological and innovative improvements to future-proof the local road network.
We are giving councils even more funding to help repair their roads so all road users can enjoy their journeys