Councils face new rules for spending pothole funding
Councils will face new rules on how they spend funding to fix potholes and maintain local roads, under new requirements set out by the government. Under the new measures, local highway authorities that fail to demonstrate they are maintaining roads effectively could lose around a third of their £1.6 billion funding for the next year. […]
Potholes are ‘pushing up repair bills and insurance claims’ for low‑income drivers
Potholes across the UK are contributing to rising vehicle repair costs and changing the landscape of motor insurance for lower‑income drivers. According to Reveela, briefings from councils and insurers’ own files show a spike in pothole damage claims, lengthening settlement times and tougher underwriting criteria. Here we lay out the newest evidence, profile real drivers’ […]
Work to fix Blackpool potholes has opposite effect
A Blackpool resident has claimed that work carried out to fix potholes on his street has left it in a poorer condition. Kristian Perry, of Halton Gardens in Marton, said the road now floods during rain showers, when it didn’t previously, because of debris left behind in the drain gullies and that there are no […]
Vital ‘blood bikes’ damaged by potholes
Severn Freewheelers, a charity that delivers blood and medicine to hospitals, has said its work is being put at risk by potholes. The charity’s nine blood bikes that operate around Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire, and the charity says that more than half of them have been damaged this year due to poor road surfaces, says […]
UPDATE: Biker’s death caused by pothole was “completely avoidable”
Am inquest into the death of 43-year-old Andrew Freakley has heard how the biker died after hitting a pothole that Stoke-on-Trent Council had been aware of for four months. The father-of-two was thrown into an oncoming car after hitting a crater in the road on 25 September last year as he rode his Yamaha motorcycle […]
Islington to spend £24m to tackle potholes
The London Borough of Islington is to invest an additional £12m over the next four years to help with repairs to potholes, upgrading road surfaces and improving street accessibility across Islington. This is in addition to the £11.7m already approved for the next four years and will mean local people benefit from safer and smoother streets. […]
Pothole reports “erroneously” updated, says Minister Kimmins
Northern Ireland’s Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins has defended the mysterious disappearance of pothole reports from the portal, calling it an “erroneous” update. A letter from Minister Kimmins was included in the schedule of correspondence at the most recent full meeting of Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council, says Armagh I. It was written in response […]
Oxfordshire’s roads to be protected from potholes in £8m surface treatment programme
Following an unprecedented winter which saw a spike in the number of pothole reports nationally and locally, more than a million square metres of carriageway in Oxfordshire is set to be treated to reduce the risk of future road defects occurring. Eighty-seven roads will be improved as part of an £8 million Oxfordshire County Council […]
Worthing’s roads have reached ‘crisis point’ say pothole campaigners
Two prominent highways campaigners have perhaps encapsulated the British public’s increasing anger about the pothole ‘crisis’ by warning that the state of the roads has reached “crisis point.” According to The Argus, Worthing’s Pothole Patrol, led by veteran campaigners Martin McCabe and Bob Smytherman, have written to Councillor Joy Dennis, cabinet member for highways and […]
Cornwall: Pothole reports risen ‘sharply’ over the winter
Pothole reports across Cornwall have risen sharply this winter, with significantly more being recorded than at the same point last year, according to new figures shared by Cornwall Council, says Cornish Stuff. A graph released alongside the update shows a clear increase in reports throughout the colder months, with a noticeable spike following severe winter weather. […]