Highways teams battling the aftermath of a punishing winter – backed by major investment to keep Bury moving

Highways crews in Bury are working rapidly in all weathers to manage the impact of this winter’s conditions on the borough’s roads.

Residents across the borough have experienced the effects firsthand, with visible surface deterioration and potholes forming in places where rainfall and freeze–thaw cycles have taken their toll.

Our highways colleagues are dealing with this up close – working in difficult conditions and under real pressure to keep roads safe, while responding to the pattern of weather experienced over the winter period.

While overall winter service activity and pothole report volumes this year have been broadly comparable with recent winters, the combination of rainfall and temperature fluctuations has still resulted in surface failures in certain areas.

Environment Agency data shows Bury received 572.56mm of rainfall this winter – very close to the seasonal average of 571.74mm, but still enough to trigger deterioration when combined with ground saturation and freezing.

In some locations, temporary repairs have broken down sooner than they normally would. Crews continue to prioritise safety-critical defects such as deep potholes and exposed ironwork, ensuring the most urgent risks are addressed first.

A national problem driven by 14 years of historic underfunding

The condition of local roads is shaped by long-term national underfunding. Councils across the country have faced chronic shortages for more than a decade, with Bury receiving around £5 million a year against the £12 million needed annually just to keep the borough’s roads in a ‘standstill’ condition.

The latest national ALARM report* highlights an £18 billion maintenance backlog across England and Wales, with the average council needing £129 million to catch up. This context continues to affect every highways authority in the UK, including Bury.

A council stretching every pound to protect and improve Bury’s roads

Despite these pressures, Bury has acted decisively. To support residents and maintain the network, the council committed £30 million over nine years (2017 to 2026) through the Highways Investment Strategy. This substantial local investment has:

• improved more than 50 miles of roads
• increased the proportion of A, B and C roads rated ‘good’ by 4.7%
• improved the unclassified network rated ‘good’ by 6%
• enabled a prevention-first approach focused on long-term value
• supported the delivery of around 11,000 pothole repairs each year

This level of improvement would not have been possible using government allocations alone. Alongside the HIS programme, Bury has also secured major national investment via the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS).

CRSTS is transforming transport infrastructure across the borough, including the redevelopment of Bury Interchange, new active travel routes, enhanced bus corridors and dedicated maintenance funding for key parts of the network.

Cllr Alan Quinn, Cabinet Member for the Environment, Climate Change and Operations, said:

“This winter has brought its own challenges, and while overall service demand is similar to recent years, we have still seen surface failures caused by rainfall and repeated freezing and thawing.

“We understand how frustrating this is for residents, and our teams are working hard every day to keep the network safe and address the damage.

“Our people are working under real pressure, often in difficult conditions, and they deserve to carry out their jobs without abuse or aggression.

“We ask residents for patience and kindness while repairs continue. As the weather stabilises, residents should start seeing more long-lasting repair techniques being used where conditions allow.

“Finally, I want to thank our crews for the work they are doing, and I’d ask our communities to back them too.”

The council will continue to provide updates on winter-damage repairs. Jetpatching will be used when weather conditions allow – it requires dry weather and temperatures of at least 1°C and rising – and further information will be shared in due course.

*The Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey report provides detailed insight into the funding and conditions of the local road network.

ENDS