Record-breaking year for road repairs in Lincolnshire

In 2015, the council repaired over 100,000 potholes and completed over 380 miles of resurfacing – both records for Lincolnshire.

Despite financial challenges ahead, the Highways Department is determined to carry on delivering ‘more for less’.

Councillor Richard Davies, executive member for Highways, said: “We are delighted to have repaired more roads and potholes than ever in 2015 and we really have made every pound count.

“But we won’t settle for this – we have to make savings next year but we will try to be even more efficient.

“Our roads deteriorate from wear and tear, and we have to work out when is the best time to repair them for motorists. Also if you leave it too long, it can cost more money to bring them back up to standard.

“We will be utilising new technology in 2016 called ‘Horizons’ to make sure our repairs keep people safe and are cost-effective.

“In truth we do need more money just to keep everything in a good condition and we are about £14m short per year to achieve this, but we continue to find innovative ways of maintaining the highway.”

Paul Rusted, Infrastructure Commissioner at Lincolnshire County Council, says finding efficiencies is nothing new. He said: “About six years ago we formed a partnership with three organisations to help us repair and improve roads, signs, lighting, bridges and more.

“The Lincolnshire Highways Alliance has been an effective partnership between the county council, Kier, Imtech and Mouchel ever since and together we estimate to have saved the taxpayer about £35million.

“This has mainly been achieved by monitoring performance – the partners performance levels are all linked with ours which delivers savings. We received one of the top awards in the industry for this setup which has since been copied by other authorities.

“Our Alliance has also received recognition from the Midlands Service Improvement Group who said the prices of our works are amongst the lowest in the region, meaning excellent value for local residents.”

A recent Strategic Value for Money assessment by the Cranfield University has praised the Highways Alliance as “one of the most efficient partnerships in the sector.

The Lincolnshire Highways Alliance runs until April 2020.