As icy winter weather blasts the region Cheshire East Council is urging residents to report any new potholes or road surface damage.
Councillor Craig Browne, deputy leader of Cheshire East Council and chair of its highways and transport committee, said: "Our highways team is working constantly to maintain the condition of our roads and the council puts the safety of road users as its highest priority.
The council regularly undertakes safety inspections and responds to customer enquiries to keep the network in a safe condition. All roads are inspected in line with the code of practice for highway safety inspections and any defects identified as requiring intervention are promptly repaired within agreed timeframes.
"All potholes and road defects, that are reported, are inspected and all that require intervention will also be promptly repaired within the agreed timeframes.
"Repeated fluctuations in weather conditions – from above to below freezing, coupled with heavy rainfall – can result in an increase in the number of potholes.
"A three-level strategy is in place – Level 1 (pothole filling): keeping the network safe; Level 2 (carriageway patching): maintaining and protecting the network; and Level 3 (resurfacing): investing and improving the network – in order to keep the network in a safe and serviceable condition and to achieve the best value from the available budget.
"In some cases, during the winter months, the weather may prevent an immediate permanent repair. However, these areas will be left in a safe state until such time that a permanent repair can be completed.
"We want our footpaths and roads to be safe for our residents and visitors. The council is currently drawing up proposals to see further investment in our highways over the next three years to maintain and improve our road network.
"We would encourage members of the public to continue to report any issues or defects directly to us via our online reporting tool at: www.cheshireeast.gov.uk/highways or by calling 0300 123 5020."
The council's highways service is responsible for repairs and management of the borough's 1,677 miles of roads and 1,100 miles of footways in addition to the maintenance of bridges, street lighting, signage and 372 miles of cycleways. It is the biggest council asset – valued at about £6bn.
Works will be done at various locations across the borough and, where possible, will be coordinated to reduce the impact on road users. The investment in the network will see 16 miles (26km) of roads resurfaced or treated this financial year.
The programme of works is prioritised in line with a defined scoring criteria, which can be found at: www.cheshireeast.gov.uk/highways_and_roads/road-maintenance/road-repair-and-improvement-programme-2021-2022/road-repair-and-improvement-programme-2021-2022.aspx
Cllr Browne added: "The works programme will improve some of the key sections of highway network and this will naturally cause some disruption and inconvenience, for which we apologise in advance. We would ask drivers to be patient and, please, plan ahead."
Comments
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Most of their so-called repairs re-appear after a few weeks and if Cheshire East have their own "inspector" after completed work then he should be sacked.
I have reported the same pot hole near me about four times in the last year and whilst it's "repaired" promptly, the repair lasts less than four weeks.
I have also reported this fact when advising Cheshire East of the on-going issue but nothing changes.
It’s total false economy imo.
The current contractors may well be coming in on cost but are shocking quality.
The road near Alderley Park is downright dangerous as you are forced into oncoming traffic in parts to avoid huge damage to your vehicle and I drove down Sutton Road yesterday and it’s in a terrible state…. Icould compile a huge list but we all know the pothole black spots (that are increasing at an alarming rate)
A review of who is carrying out this shoddy work is desperately needed ASAP.
As one example - Congleton Road between the village and the Melrose Way roundabout near Alderley Park has long sections that are peppered with potholes and you regularly see drivers swerve towards the kerb or onto the wrong side of the road to avoid them. I've no idea how the cyclists deal with some of the craters along there.
Rather than offer residents a web form which lets them submit "I would like to fix pothole 1, pothole 2, pothole 3" why not offer residents a web form which says "I would like this whole road fixed please?".