Steep drop in pothole complaints and repairs

Cheshire East Council says it is winning the battle against potholes thanks to its proactive repair programme backed by major investment.

Reports about potholes have fallen by 32% in twelve months, down to 4448 in 2014 from 13,759 in 2013.

Over the past two years, the Council has repaired 87,881 potholes across the borough and resurfaced more than 400km of road.

The number of liability claims against the Council has also dropped to 244 last financial year, from 1,252 in 2012/13. Compensation totalling £558,245 was paid out to claimants in 2012 but for claims lodged in 2014 only £2,308 has been paid out so far – a drop of 99.5 per cent.

Figures we obtained via a Freedom of Information Request show that the number of potholes reported in Alderley Edge last year was only 55, down from 158 in 2013 and 295 in 2012. Whilst the number of potholes repaired in the village last year was 141, compared with 165 in 2013 and 294 in 2012.

The roads where the most potholes were repaired in Alderley Edge last year were Heyes Lane, South Street, Bradford Lane, Macclesfield Road, Moss Lane, Moss Road, Brook Lane, Crescent Road and Eaton Drive.

Councillor David Topping, Cheshire East's Cabinet member for service commissioning, said: "We are up to date with the safety-related defects, those which are greater than 50mm.

"That doesn't mean there are not potholes on the network but we don't have backlogs from former years. We are completely open about these figures and don't hide anything from the public. The safety of our residents and visitors is paramount.

"We are continuing to monitor our roads constantly through an inspection regime which identifies current and future problems. We also value comments and reports from the public.

"As we know, weather plays havoc with our roads, having spread more than 1,000 tonnes of salt across the network in the past week we expect the number of defects to rise.

"Repair techniques have changed over time. We now use velocity patching machines that can deal with a high volume of repairs quickly. We also have higher quality materials that perform better in cold conditions or bad weather.

"In December, Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin announced that Cheshire East would receive £10.5m for highways improvements and potholes in the financial year 2015/16.

"The Council has already directed huge resources towards highways maintenance and pothole repairs and the funding will help support our commitment to improving the condition of our highways network. This is great news for our road users!"

Residents can report potholes, broken street lights and road related problems on the Cheshire East Council website.

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