County Council Pulling Out All The Stops To Fix County Potholes
Derbyshire County Council is stepping up its efforts to fix the county’s potholes following the worst winter weather to hit the area for 10 years.
Extra roadworker gangs have been mobilised across the county, and they will be working longer hours including at weekends, to tackle potholes reported on the county’s roads.
There will also be extra equipment including more `hotboxes’ which keep Tarmac warm and make it easier to transport around the county, and two Jetpatchers which will be used on mainly rural roads.
The condition of many of the county’s roads has deteriorated over the past few weeks after long periods of severe winter weather.
The constant freezing and thawing, prolonged rainfall and heavy snow cover has led to roads cracking, resulting in a significant rise in the number of potholes and carriageway deterioration.
In December 2017 the number of potholes listed for repair in Derbyshire was only 120 but by the beginning of March the number had risen to more than 3,000.
The teams have already brought this total down to 2,500 despite dozens of new potholes being reported every day.
The council had already set aside £4m to spend on pothole repairs, and last week this figure was boosted by just over £2m extra funding from the Government.
The £6m is being spent drafting in the extra roadworker gangs and a range of machinery, as well as stepping up highways inspections to ensure teams know where to target resources.
The county has doubled the number of `hotboxes’ and teams using them from six to 12, which will speed up repairs.
The rapid response teams will be responding to all urgent defects as they are reported, travelling across the county on all roads, from main A roads to minor and rural roads fixing potholes where they’ve been reported.
More `patching gangs’ will also be working on the county’s roads to tackle the backlog. The patching gangs will repair larger sections of road where a cluster of potholes has been reported.
The extra teams are also being backed up by two Jetpatchers which will concentrate on repairs to rural roads. The Jetpatcher uses a high velocity air stream to clear existing holes of any debris and water as well as laying and compacting new Tarmac.
County Council Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Infrastructure Councillor Simon Spencer said: “We are well aware of the deterioration of the county’s roads over the last few weeks and I can assure Derbyshire residents that fixing them is a top priority for us.
“Bad weather has severely hampered our efforts over the past few weeks but now we can really get on with the job, helped by the lighter days so teams can work for longer. They will also be out repairing potholes at weekends until we feel we’re on top of the problem.
“We are throwing all we’ve got at this and we won’t rest until the job is done.”
Councillor Spencer added: “I would ask our residents to please bear with us while we carry out the repairs and I’m confident that they will shortly begin to see a real difference in the roads.
“People can help by continuing to report potholes via our website so that we are aware of where they are and how serious they are. We are inspecting roads as fast as we can but we still need people to tell us so we can get on to them as soon as possible.”
In addition to the pothole budget of £6m, the council is already spending nearly £16m patching, surface dressing and resurfacing the county’s roads and pavements and fixing drains and gullies.
Potholes can be reported at www.derbyshire.gov.uk/reportit
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