While regularly using our local roads over the last few months, it has been clear to see that there has been a big increase in the number of potholes. I experience them myself, just like my constituents, and while out canvassing most weekends I have had the issue raised with me by residents.
January to March is, as the RAC call it, “Pothole Season” so it is usual to get some level of damage. But this winter has been one of the wettest winters in decades and the mix of all that water and cold weather has played havoc on our roads. It has both increased the number of potholes and made the repair more difficult.
Both the Department for Transport, which I lead as Secretary of State, and Gloucestershire County Council (GCC) get that this is an issue.
Nearly all of our roads across the Forest of Dean come under the responsibility of GCC. They have implemented a £100 million Highways Transformation Programme which has seen 220 roads resurfaced and 50,000 potholes filled in the past 12 months using new machinery and innovative methods. I have visited the resurfacing team at Cannop Depot and I am pictured here with the new spray injection patching machine.
Also, GCC has cracked down on utility companies that have broken the rules. In the last financial year, the County Council has issued more than 4,000 fines, raising more than £600,000, against utility companies whose road repairs have not been good enough or whose works have overrun. I am pleased to hear that the money raised from this scheme has been reinvested to support the Council’s Highways Transformation Programme.
What will be transformative in the battle against potholes is the decision the Prime Minister and I made not to proceed with phase 2 of HS2.
As a result of that decision, GCC will be receiving an additional £87.9 million of reallocated HS2 funding over the next decade to resurface local roads with the first instalments already made last financial year and this one. Politics is about choices. We have made this decision to use the HS2 money saved on our roads. Labour hasn’t supported that position, so the money wouldn’t be available to resurface our local roads if they were in power.
The County Council has already made good use of this money having resurfaced the A417 Gloucester Road at Ashleworth and Hartpury (TweenHills Cottages to Broad Street) in the last financial year. Moving forward, the B4234 at Lower Lydbrook, the B4231 at Church Road in Lydney, the B4215 from Gloucester Street to Malswick Cottages in Newent and the A4136 at Longhope Road in Little London are all set to be resurfaced in the upcoming financial year.
The County Council has now also committed to addressing surface deterioration on Lydney High Street from Memorial Cross to the Town Hall with a new Roadmender product which is being trialled as part of the County Council’s new £500,000 Pothole Buster Fund.
There is more to do, but progress is being made. Now, due to the decisions taken by the Government and GCC, we have significant money behind fixing these problematic potholes.
If any of my constituents are concerned about a particular stretch of road, then I would encourage them to report this to GCC using the ‘Fix My Street’ tool, which can be found in the link below.
