Council tackles road problems

Bury Council is to invest £100,000 and introduce a number of changes that will improve the borough’s roads for residents and visitors alike. 

The financial investment will be spent on two new state-of-the-art road planing machines. These will enable the highways service to efficiently plane out damaged or worn out surfaces and create a neat and stable bed on which to lay new tarmac.

In turn, this will mean that the number of pot hole and patch repairs will be significantly increased across the borough’s 665km of road network.

On average the council receives in the region of 3,500 requests for repairs each year and currently carries out around 6,000 sq m of pot hole repairs.  Other improvements taking place include the use of jet patching and vertical seam repairs applied by specialist machinery. As well as giving a longer lasting repair, this also extends the life of the general road surface. 

The council is also moving towards area-based maintenance teams which will help with local delivery of materials, reducing travelling time between jobs and increasing targeted repairs to local roads and footways. 

Councillor Tony Isherwood, cabinet member for environment, said: “This investment is not just a one-off quick fix. The new machinery and materials being used will provide a much improved service for years to come.

“I am very much aware that our highways have suffered from many years of under investment and that road resurfacing is considerably under-funded by the Government. But this local financial commitment and the operational changes we are putting in place are key steps in the right direction. 

“Investing in our valued workforce and in modern-day equipment means our residents will get longer lasting and improved minor repairs.”

To report a pothole or a fault in a road in Bury, go to www.bury.gov.uk/reportaproblem or call 0161 253 5353. 

ENDS

Press release issued: 11 April 2014.

Picture attached:Tackling road problems are (from left) Scott Burns, Neville Keyworth, Phil Downes, Martin Penlington, Councillor Tony Isherwood, and Philip Hewitt.