An extra £15.5m to fix our roads...

County council looks at significant investment in structural repairs

Improving our highways is one of the top priorities for Staffordshire people

David Williams

A COUNCIL is to invest an extra £15.5million in fixing Staffordshire’s roads this year.

Staffordshire County Council said the money is on top of a £50million proposed investment in major projects, maintenance and local improvements.

The investment will see around 9,000 more potholes fixed across the county, added to the 35,000 repairs carried out in a typical year.

On top of this, the money will also mean a further 9,000 repairs as a result of bad winter weather could be carried out, plus drainage repairs and preventative surface dressing treatments.

There will also be significant investment on structural repairs to roads nearing the end of their life, especially those leading to and from major towns in the county.

David Williams, cabinet member for highways and transport, said: “Improving our highways is one of the top priorities for Staffordshire people, and good roads are vital for communities and businesses to thrive.

“Maintaining and improving Staffordshire’s 6,000km of highways is very challenging, especially in light of rising costs and increasing road usage. This proposed extra investment will help keep our roads in good condition, as well as funding major projects that will help the connectivity of our county.

“However, we recognise that there is always more to be done and we continue to lobby Government for the money to keep Staffordshire’s roads in the condition we expect, and to ensure local communities and businesses are able to see the benefits of an improved highway network.”

Staffordshire County Council’s cabinet will meet to discuss the proposals today, March 16.