13 Oct Following investment Essex now has half the potholes it had
The number of potholes on main routes in Essex has halved thanks to significant investment in the county’s roads.
Between June and September this year figures showed a 47 per cent drop in the number of defects on priority routes.
The impressive figures come following a record-breaking summer for road surfacing with 3.24 million square metres of surface dressing completed across the county.
This is the equivalent of surfacing the area of the runway at Stansted 23 times.
Cllr Eddie Johnson, Essex County Council Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, said: “Following a record summer for road surfacing, we have seen an impressive reduction in the number of potholes across the county.
“This has been helped further thanks to the Government’s ‘Pothole Action Fund’ allowing us to send out extra repair crews onto the county’s roads.
“We understand potholes are a real frustration for drivers across the county. That is why we have not only invested in repairing potholes, but have also taken a long-term view by investing in surfacing roads to ensure they last for years to come.”
Crews fixed 2,627 defects on the roads over the past three months compared to a respectable 1,638 over the previous quarter (April – June 2016).
The number of outstanding defects on Priority 1 and 2 routes at the end of June was 555. This had fallen to 291 by the end of September.
Across Essex statistics showed a reduction in potholes from 4,954 to 4,597 at the end of September
