New way of repairing potholes to be rolled out across Shropshire

An innovative new way of repairing Shropshire’s potholes more quickly, quietly and effectively is to be rolled out across the county following a successful trial in Whitchurch and Market Drayton.

The work – which will be carried out on urban roads – will be carried out overnight – helping to minimise disruption to residents, businesses and road users.

Its focus is to repair a large number of potholes, and it’s anticipated that up to 40 could be repaired each night – the current rate is around 20 per week.

Under the new process, potholes are cleaned out, filled with a unique material called Texpatch, then covered with a neat, square patch. This will provide a longer-lasting, smoother, neater finish compared to traditional pothole repairs, and seals up all joints, which should result in an increased life span for the repair.

Using this process for treating urban potholes will also free up crews to tackle potholes in rural areas. The work will be carried out by Kier – Shropshire Council’s highways contractor – and L&R Roadlines.

Steve Davenport, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for highways and transport, said: “No-one likes potholes and we want to repair them as quickly, efficiently and effectively as we can. The trial in Whitchurch and Market Drayton was a big success and showed a fall in the time it takes to repair a pothole, and also a fall in the cost of the repair. I’m delighted that we can now roll this new process out across the county.”