An extra £220m is being released to councils across England to repair potholes, the government has announced.
The Department for Transport said the money is incentive-based funding, awarded for meeting performance targets. Further funding will be released later in the year only if targets are met and can be withheld if councils fall short.
The announcement came with new figures showing nearly 7,000 miles of road will be resurfaced this year, up 10% on last year. Councils are spending £4.9bn on road maintenance, around £800m more than before the Government came to power, as part of £7.3bn in Government funding.
The data also shows 94% of councils will carry out preventative roadworks this year, up from 76% last year, aimed at stopping potholes forming in the first place.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said the figures show the country is ‘starting to turn a corner’, though she acknowledged there is more to do.
Edmund King, AA president and a member of the Pothole Partnership, welcomed the funding but said it arrives as the nation enters peak pothole season. He said the AA has seen a 4.6% rise in pothole-related incidents between January and September compared with the same period last year.
‘The challenge for councils will be to use this money wisely,’ he said, urging them to focus on long-term resurfacing and act quickly to protect drivers, motorcyclists and cyclists this winter.
RAC head of policy Simon Williams called the data encouraging but said the real test will be whether drivers notice the difference.
