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Councils across the country are facing a backlog with the RAC estimating that there are an average of six potholes on every mile of road in England and Wales.
Reports of potholes in North Somerset have increased significantly, in line with the national picture: 1,316 reports were logged between November and January, compared with 530 during the same period the year before.
To help deal with the increase, we are deploying two additional repair crews to prioritise repairs across our road network. Over 700 pothole and road defects have already been repaired in March and next month we will be using a specialist piece of equipment know as a jet patcher for eight weeks. Last year the jet patcher filled 13,300 holes in a similar timeframe.
While the winter has been relatively mild with few frosts, prolonged wet weather can still cause significant damage to road surfaces. As roads age, they can become more porous, allowing water to seep into the structure and weaken it.
Where possible, crews will complete permanent repairs and temporary fixes will be used only where urgent action is required or where an area is too large for an immediate full repair.
We maintain around 1,100km of roads and 600km of pavements. It would take an estimated £58m to bring our network up to standard but, with an annual government allocation of £7m for maintenance, we continue to face significant pressures. This funding covers not only road repairs such as resurfacing and surface dressing but also street lighting and structures. We invest a further £3m each year in reactive work, including gully clearing, pothole repairs and winter gritting.
Last year we completed major maintenance on 22 miles (35km) of road which accounts for about three per cent of our entire network.
Prevention is always better than cure and we have also trialled some innovative treatments which offer a cost-effective way to prolong the life of our roads, but there simply isn’t enough money to do everything needed.
Despite the financial pressures, our highway services have recently been recognised by the Department for Transport under its new road maintenance “traffic light” rating system. The scheme aims to make it clearer how well councils maintain their roads and how public funding is used.
Under the system, we received green ratings – the highest possible – for both the condition of our roads and the way our highway services are managed. However, our overall rating was amber, reflecting the level of spending on roads.
What about the money being spent on major road improvements and bus services?
Despite the financial challenges we face, we remain able to invest and deliver important projects to build our local towns and infrastructure - this includes current works on the Banwell Bypass and bus service improvements. These projects are only made possible because of our ongoing success securing pots of Government funding.
This money is known as capital funding and, as a general rule, we are not allowed to spend it on day-to-day services which are funded from our revenue budget.
You can find out more about our capital and revenue spending on our website.
How can you help?
We urge residents to help us by reporting potholes so we can treat them as soon as possible and keep our network moving safely. We can’t locate every pothole without your help and we rely on this vital information from people who use the roads every day.
You can report potholes online or through the North Somerset Council App.