Potholes Robust Pothole Plan Rolled Out Across Herefordshire

[Hereford Voice]

Robust Pothole Plan Rolled Out Across Herefordshire

£1.25m additional funding will help to tackle the issue

Balfour Beatty Living Places has scaled up their approach to combat the county’s potholes through the delivery of a proactive pothole repair plan.

Herefordshire Council’s public realm contractor recorded over five times the number of potholes in March 2018 compared with the previous year, mainly due to the combination of water on the network and extremely cold temperatures caused by the prolonged winter weather.

The challenge of tackling the increased number of potholes across the UK has been acknowledged by government, and Herefordshire Council recently secured £1.25m of additional funding to help tackle the issue. This is in addition to the £5m successful funding bid to the Department for Transport’s Local Highways Maintenance Challenge Fund, which will see the second phase of road improvement work on the A4103 and A438 begin in August 2018.

Balfour Beatty Living Places’ pothole repair teams have been working hard to overcome the high number of road defects and, since January 2018, have repaired over 13,700 defects, compared to around 3,000 this time last year.

The pothole repair plan sees more operational pothole gangs out on the network, and the use of a ‘jetpatcher’ machine enables higher volumes of potholes to be repaired quickly and effectively.

Andy Williams, Balfour Beatty Living Places Contract Director, said:

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“Following the extreme weather fronts experienced at the beginning of the year, we are pleased to be working with Herefordshire Council to strengthen our approach to tackling potholes across the county. We are creating more teams to prioritise the repair of ‘high risk defects’ which are deemed the most dangerous, and will use the ‘jetpatcher’ machine on our smaller roads. We are committed to maintaining Herefordshire’s road network in the best possible condition to ensure the county continues to be a pleasant place to live, work and play.”

Councillor Barry Durkin, Herefordshire Council Cabinet Member for Transport and Regulatory Services, said:

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“Herefordshire has seen a higher than expected increase in potholes due to a combination of severe weather and the underlying condition of our ageing network which has not had sufficient national investment.

“To address these challenges, we have had a number of successful bids to government such as the Local Highways Maintenance Challenge Fund. We will continue to bid for national funding to secure better quality services which will improve the quality of life of the county’s roads, maintain their condition and help prevent deterioration over time.”

 

 

[ragwert]

Went to Michaelchurch, Escley yesterday..... Horrendous.There are roads 100 x better in third world Jungles .
This money should be given to Balfour 'botch it n scarper' Beatty but to a company that knows how to fill potholes with tarmac correctly not just throw it in the hole for it to
come back out 6 months later..

 

[Clarkester]

I completely agree, Ragwert.

The pothole on the corner of Granstand Road/Priory Place by Widemarsh Common has been "fixed" at least three times since January.  After one attempt at fixing it, the repair (I use the term incredibly loosely) lasted less than 24 hours before it had started sinking again.

Barrs Court Road also...  I did my duty and logged the shocking state of Barrs Court Road to FixMyStreet in January 2017, I have updated it on regular occasions since then, but to no avail.  There back roads in Thailand that are in better repair than Barrs Court Road.

It would be easy to go on and on and on...  I don't think an extra £1.25 million is going to even touch the sides, not with the jobs that are being done at the moment.

[Colin James]

There is also a huge pothole as you turn into Mortimer Road from Newtown Road. 

[moretvicar]

The "repairs" are ludicrous, most look as if some tarmac has been tipped in then trodden down. Even the better looking repairs have no overbanding so they fall apart in a matter of days.

Roman Road though not having so many potholes as some places is like a suspension test site.

Actually most roads are like that. They don't need patching - they need resurfacing - and its never going to happen.