Sandwell Council pothole spending revealed
A Black Country council has spent more than £330,000 pounds fixing more than 6,000 potholes since 2017, a Freedom of Information request has revealed.
But the latest figures provided by Sandwell Council show the amount of money spent on repairing fractures and holes in highways has significantly fallen in the last nine months.
A spokesman for Sandwell Council said: “The main factor in the varying costs of pothole repairs is the weather.”
From January 2017 to September 2019 the council spent £331,886 on repairing ‘actionable’ damage to the borough’s 540 miles of roads.
In 2018 the authority paid out £160,060 fixing 3,020 potholes – compared to £72,239 for 1,363 as of September this year.
The council said actionable holes are those greater than 20mm deep within pedestrian crossings and cycle lanes or more than 40mm deep elsewhere.
A Sandwell Council spokesman said: “We take our responsibilities for highway maintenance very seriously and we have a duty to make sure our roads and footpaths are safe for both motorists and pedestrians.
“The main factor in the varying costs of pothole repairs is the weather. We do not allocate a specific budget for pothole repairs each year but we will always repair actionable potholes in line with our policy.
“These repairs are paid for from our wider highways maintenance budget.
“The winter of 2017/18 was one of the most severe and prolonged winters we have seen for many years, including the weather system termed ‘The Beast from the East’. The freezing temperatures and widespread snowfall led to a significant increase in potholes that needed to be repaired.
“The winter of 2018/19 was more mild and more typical of an average winter, with consequently less damage to the highway and fewer potholes to repair.”
