City's £1m blitz to fill in 6,200 potholes after winter's icy grip

EXTRA teams of road repairers have been drafted in to cope with the aftermath of the worst winter for more than three decades as half of the 6,200 potholes which opened up across a Yorkshire city have yet to be dealt with.

The scale of the damage caused by the freezing temperatures on York's roads network has forced the city council to plough additional resources into tackling the hundreds of potholes which have not been repaired.

Senior councillors warned that a 204,000 windfall from the Government from a national emergency fund will not be enough to cover the cost of repairs – even after York Council itself has earmarked an extra 1m for a city-wide resurfacing project.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

And the council's assistant director for maintenance services, Richard White, admitted that the repairs are expected to take another two months to complete before the situation is "back under full control".

Latest figures from the council have revealed that the winter freeze caused about 6,200 potholes to open up across the city's roads – and only 3,200 have so far been dealt with.

The number of road repair teams has been increased from three to five, and the most dangerous potholes have been prioritised to ensure they are made safe as soon as possible.

However, York Council executive member for neighbourhood Services Coun Ann Reid warned that while the worst of the weather was over, potholes were still appearing. "The icy conditions did a lot of damage to our roads, a lot of the damage was visible immediately but some of the weakened tarmac is only now beginning to show visible signs of damage.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"The announcement of Government funding to help with pothole repairs is very welcome, but the damage has been so severe than even this extra money won't go very far towards covering the cost.

"Thankfully the kind of severe weather we experienced this winter is rare, and hopefully we shouldn't have to deal with such a big problem for some time."

The Yorkshire Post revealed last month that an extra 1m of taxpayers' cash was to be used to pay for road repairs across York after the prolonged winter freeze.

The additional funding was allocated by York Council to pay for an extensive programme of repairs during the new financial year, including work to the city's roads network which has been damaged by sub-zero temperatures. Road repairs were among the top priorities which taxpayers identified for their cash to be spent on, and the worst winter for more than 30 years has accentuated the need for the work to be carried out.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

A total of 97 per cent of residents who responded to a budget consultation rated highway and footpath maintenance as a key priority.

York Council's road maintenance team has tested a portable road repair kit to try to cope with the vast number of potholes. The Jetpatcher, which is one of only a handful of the machines in Britain, has been used to fill in potholes in rural roads surrounding the city. Council chiefs also confirmed that they expected to spend nearly 900,000 on the winter maintenance programme, almost double the amount initially set aside.

By February, the council had already spent nearly 200,000 over the 480,000 winter maintenance budget on coping with the freeze and ensuring roads and pathways were properly gritted. The council expected to spend at least another 150,000 during the rest of the winter, bringing the total cost to approaching 900,000.

The winter freeze has led to a controversial "snow levy" on taxpayers in North Yorkshire to pay for road repairs.