A well-known cycling app is to be used by Devon County Council to help decide where some of the additional £27m of spending on the county’s roads will be allocated.
This spending will go towards roads that are used by cyclists or walkers, with the county council using the cycling app Strava to get data on which routes are popular.
In total, the £58 million total spend, is the largest ever annual investment in Devon’s road network, with smaller and unclassified roads receiving the majority of the extra cash.
Funding from the Government’s Potholes Fund will be used to repair road surfaces, increase pothole prevention and to combat the damage caused to highways, bridges and structures during the winter months.
The extra money will enable the county council to improve the plans that were already in place to tackle the effects of weathering and previous storm damage and use community knowledge to highlight specific areas that require maintenance.
An extra £6m will be spent on Devon’s principal road network, with £3.2m extra of bridges and structures, with £17.7m to be spent on smaller roads, such as ‘C’ and unclassified roads.
Cllr Stuart Hughes, Devon County Council cabinet member for highway management, said: “The announcement of additional highway maintenance funding is great news for Devon. It will be integral to providing appropriate long-term repairs to Devon’s road network and the safety of our highways.”
