£164k funding to fix potholes in Dudley after snow and ice damage
More than half-a-million pounds is being pumped into tackling crumbling roads after sub-zero temperatures wreaked havoc on highways.
Dudley Council has announced a further £164,000 to help repair surfaces – in the wake of £238,000 funding earlier this year and £150,000 in December.
Bosses say potholes have appeared or been made worse by recent snow and ice, which saw freeze-thaw conditions break up roads.
The council has vowed to prioritise potholes, despite cutting £300,000 from its streets budget in October. They claim to have ‘streamlined’ the service by focusing on the borough’s biggest and busiest roads.
The latest funding is part of an £844,000 pot of money from the Department for Transport paid to the West Midlands Combined Authority for the region.
The crisis has come about after snow covered the Black Country and Staffordshire at the end of last month, closing schools, disrupting rail services and gridlocking traffic.
The cold snap – caused by Storm Emma and the Siberian blast dubbed The Beast from the East – lasted for several days.
In Dudley, special pothole crews have been working round-the-clock ever since to tackle the mess left behind. The authority was already coping with damage caused by snow and ice in December.
Councillor Karen Shakespeare, cabinet member for environmental services, said the weather had caused surfaces to contract and expand as temperatures fluctuated.
“The snow and ice we have had has really hit our roads hard – that’s something we cannot avoid – but this extra money will go a long way in helping us deal with the potholes and other road defects,” she said.
“Our crews are working hard to identify areas and respond to reports.”
Council leader Patrick Harley denied the authority’s focus on main roads meant smaller streets would be left unattended when the budget cuts were announced in October, insisting teams could often react to potholes on quieter roads quickly without the need for big expense.
At the end of last year the Government announced more than 40,000 potholes in Staffordshire and the Black Country were set to be filled with the aid of £1.3 million of new funding.
Dudley received a £149,975 share to fill in 2,773 potholes, according to Department for Transport figures. The DfT put the average cost of each repair at £53.
