Warrington Council set to approve £9 million spending on highways maintenance..

This would build on the borough council’s previous highways maintenance programme and ensure an ongoing commitment to highway improvements and critical maintenance of the road and footway network.

A report to the council’s cabinet by highways and transportation chief Cllr Hans Mundry states that over a number of years the condition of highways across the country has severely declined because of severe weather and longer term lack of sufficient investment, reports Warrington Worldwide.

In 2015, the council approved an investment of £40 million in highway maintenance, which was considered essential to address the backlog in highway and footpath repairs. A total of 612 schemes were delivered as part of this investment and this had helped in addressing the maintenance backlog.
However, there was an issue with the unclassified road network – the area of work proposed for the additional £9 million investment.

The previous £40 million investment was very successful in improving the condition of Class A, B and C class roads. But recent studies showed one of the council’s biggest challenges was the condition of unclassified roads.

Significant sections of estate roads were built around the same time as New Town development, and with rates of deterioration largely the same, most of these were approaching the end of their original design life and would require resurfacing soon.
Increasing traffic volumes arising from a growing population was becoming an issue, along with the high volume of traffic using local roads following motorway closures.
Cabinet members will be asked to approve the £9 million investment next week – and also maximum borrowing of £9 million with any 2022/23 borrowing costs to be met from reserves.