Lincolnshire County Council: ‘We have to prioritise busy roads’

Across Britain, 717 miles of council-run A-Roads were deemed in need of maintenance. Picture: PA.

It comes as the latest figures released by the authority have highlighted how much of Lincolnshire’s road network may need repairs.

Road inspections were carried out in the 12 months to March 2018.

They found that 1.5% of A-Roads, 2.6% of B-Roads, 5.4% of C-Roads and 29.1% of unclassified roads across the county may need repairs.

The figures also show that road conditions are better than they were three years ago.

In 2016, 1.9% of A-Roads, 3.5% of B-Roads, 6.5% of C- Roads and 29.8% of unclassified roads were identified for repair.

In total, there are 4,870 miles of minor roads in Lincolnshire.

The examinations, done by scanner machines and human inspection, identify sections of road worn by use or affected by ruts, bumps or potholes.

It’s not clear from the figures how badly damaged the roads are.

The highway inspections use a classification called the Road Condition Indicator.

This categorises a road as green, amber or red, based on ruts and bumps.

If a part of a route is branded red it should be checked more regularly as it is likely to require maintenance.

Across Britain, 717 miles of council-run A-Roads were deemed in need of maintenance.

RAC Breakdown spokesman Rod Dennis said: “We believe Britain’s pothole  problem has been caused by years of under investment, especially when it comes to local roads – with councils having to make some tough decisions about where to prioritise spending.”

Councillor Richard Davies, executive member for highways, added: “With 5,500 miles of road to maintain and only limited funding, we have to prioritise our busiest routes.

“And I think these figures reflect that our efforts are paying off, although there’s clearly more work to be done.

“We’ve spent around £61m on highways maintenance in the past year, with a further £66m earmarked for repairs this year.

“Although that sounds like a lot of money, it’s nowhere near the hundreds of millions of pounds we’d need to bring our roads up to the standard we’d like.

“So we continue to push the Government for fairer funding for Lincolnshire.

“If councils here received the national average, we’d benefit from £116m of extra funding every year – some of which could be spent on further road repairs.

“That would make a massive difference.”