More than 53,000 potholes filled in two years as Shropshire Council pushes to improve roads
Shropshire Council has repaired more than 53,000 potholes in just under two years, latest figures show.
In total, 53,251 potholes were tackled by the authority since April 2021 – an average of more than 540 every week.
As part of efforts to improve the county’s roads, Shropshire Council say its crews and its contractor Kier are out across the county every week tackling potholes in a variety of ways.
Among the methods for repairing potholes employed in Shropshire include the "Multihog road planer" which treats larger areas of potholes and cuts down on the need for road closures.
Two Roadmaster vehicles also carry out "spray injection patching" on rural roads in the spring and summer by using compressed air to blow water or dirt out of a pothole and then fill it with hot bitumen and chippings.
More traditional repairs by six gangs are also carried out across the county under Shropshire Council’s ‘find and fix’ service.
Richard Marshall, the council’s cabinet member for highways, said: “These figures are really encouraging, and provide further evidence of the work we’re carrying out every day to improve the county’s roads, and the progress that we’re making.
“Hitting and exceeding the 50,000 potholes figure is a significant achievement, but there are still many more to be tackled and that’s what we’ll do.
“A significant amount of work has been done to improve the condition of the county’s roads over the past 12 months. We have seen much greater levels of investment, which has seen more kilometres of road resurfaced and repaired than in previous years.
“The wet and cold winter weather conditions means that – right across the country – more potholes appear at this time of year – and I’m sure people will have spotted more defects on the roads in recent weeks. But, we’re working hard to tackle these.”
Ian McLellan, general manager with Kier Highways, added: “Repairing over 50,000 potholes within two years is an outstanding achievement, which is a testament to the hard work of our teams and supply chain partners.
“At times, it has been challenging. Every day, our people are on the roads – in all weather conditions – carrying out essential repairs to keep people safe.
"We’ve used a combination of methods to tackle potholes and provide a quality service with minimal disruption. By working closely with Shropshire Council, I’m sure that the speed and strength of our delivery will have had a positive community impact across the region – and will continue to do so.”
Earlier this week, Shropshire Council announced that more than 60 stretches of road across the county are to be temporarily closed during the spring and summer while they are treated to prevent potholes in the winter months.
