Shropshire Council welcomes £1.86m of government pothole funding

Shropshire Council has welcomed the award of almost £1.86m from the Department for Transport (DfT) to help repair potholes and protect the county’s roads from future severe weather.

It’s part of £100m awarded to councils across the country following the prolonged spell of winter weather that has caused a high number of potholes and other road defects.

The money will be added to the council’s 2018/19 highways budget so that proper engineering treatments can be applied once the weather improves.

It will increase the council’s resurfacing budget, minor works budget, surface dressing budget, and RoadMaster budget, as well as top up local pothole repair budgets.

Shropshire Council says it is already directing additional resources into treating potholes and has increased the number of teams tackling potholes from 12 to 25.

However, as cold and wet weather conditions are not always conducive to carrying out effective and lasting repairs, the bulk of the council’s annual road repair budget is invested in the summer months when working conditions are better, and longer lasting repairs can be carried out.

Councillor Steve Davenport, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for highways and transport, said:

“We recognise that residents are concerned about the number of potholes appearing on our roads and we’re working flat out throughout the county to address the problem on a priority basis. This additional funding is very welcome and will enable us to carry out longer-lasting repairs to our roads once the weather improves, as well as protecting our roads against future damage.”