Lincolnshire County Council has voted in favour of allocating £12m from a combination of resources toward covering Lincolnshire’s road maintenance funding gap.
Cllr Martin Hill, leader of Lincolnshire County Council, said: “Although it’s incredibly disappointing that the Department for Transport and the Transport Secretary never responded to our plea for them to fill the £12m funding gap they left us with, I’m proud to say that our council has voted to continue to find a way to maintain the roads network that is so vital to the people and businesses of Lincolnshire.
“The missing money will be made up by a 2% increase in tax plus cash from our reserves. These funds will allow us to fully rebuild 37 total miles of crumbling road in addition to filling 24,000 potholes that would have gone unfilled.
“We’re a large rural county and our residents place a huge amount of importance on well-maintained roads – something we’re doing our best to deliver but are struggling to fund.
“That’s why we need fairer funding for the residents and drivers of the East Midlands and Lincolnshire. We cannot continue to be overlooked and will continue to fight for the roads our residents deserve.”
Cllr Richard Davies, executive member for highways, said: “I’m incredibly happy that the council voted in favour of allocating £12m so we can continue maintaining our roads to the same level as last year.
“However, with 660 miles of our vast 5,500-mile road network classed as in urgent need of repair, we continue to face an uphill struggle against potholes and deteriorating roads throughout the county.
“In fact, despite our best efforts and continued efficiency improvements in the way we work, it would cost around £400m to bring all our roads and pavements up to standard.
“Instead of recognising our need for additional maintenance funding, and maintaining their manifesto promise of ‘levelling up’, our government-allocated road maintenance grant remains 25% less than it was in 2019/20.
“Without proper funding from Westminster, people will continue seeing more potholes on our roads and more unplanned roadworks – both of which have a hugely detrimental effect on people’s day-to-day lives and the local economy.
“In the meantime, we’ll continue working as efficiently as possible to keep our county’s road network up-and-running.”
