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Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins has announced that more than 10,000 road defects have been repaired throughout the north in just eight weeks. The repairs have been carried out under the Winter Recovery Road Fund, which the Minister established specifically to address roads worst affected by prolonged bad weather at the start of the year.
Praising the crews who have been working on local roads, Minister Kimmins said: "The damage caused to our roads by prolonged bad weather at the beginning of the year is well documented and I established the Winter Recovery Road Fund to specifically address the areas which were worst affected."
She added that following her announcement of additional funding, road crews had been working hard, with the results now clear. "Now the figures speak for themselves, with 10,000 repairs completed in eight weeks," she said.
The Minister acknowledged that the work is far from finished, pointing to years of underfunding as a factor in the overall condition of the road network. "We are not complacent and there is still much to do because the overall condition of the network has suffered because of years of underfunding by the British Government," she said, adding that she was nonetheless pleased the ringfenced funding was "making a real and tangible difference across the North."
Alongside the repair programme, Minister Kimmins has published a draft Road Maintenance Strategy which sets out a new approach to road maintenance, making use of modern technology to direct investment where it is most needed. The strategy also looks to future-proof the road network to meet changing needs, including active travel, reducing the carbon footprint of road operations, and ensuring the network can withstand adverse weather events.
While there is more to do the Minister has emphasised that even the smallest fix matters. "We all use our roads and even the smallest repair can have a big impact when it comes to better journeys for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians," she said.
