Potholes

Following the prolonged, severe winter period in 2010/11, there was concern across the nation about the condition of our roads.

The freezing conditions had exposed weaknesses in highways and created pot-holes and structural damage throughout the network.

To help redress the problem, the Government approved £200m to be distributed across the nation for repair to winter damage. The funding was apportioned based upon road length. For Stockton, this amounted to £442,000. With over 500miles of road in the Borough, it is a welcome addition to the annual maintenance allocation that the Council sets each year.

For 2011/12, the Council has approved a combined budget of more than £2.4m specifically for resurfacing works and pot-hole repairs to restore road conditions.

This funding has enabled the Council to undertake a major programme of highway repairs ranging from simple pot-hole repairs and patching to full road resurfacing schemes.

The programme is well under way and, by the end of the year, we will have resurfaced more than 18 miles (28 km) of road and repaired in excess of 10,000 pot-holes.

With the onset of another potentially severe winter, there may be more problems to come.

Tell us about a pothole in your area.