Local highways maintenance funding

During 2018/19 the County Council has used the Highways Maintenance Allocation and the Incentive Fund Grant in accordance with the priorities set out in the Transport Asset Management Plan.  Over £6m of the maintenance allocation has been invested in roads across the County on schemes such as pre patching, surface dressing and resurfacing. The individual schemes have been determined on a countywide prioritisation, based on a number of factors including condition derived from scanner and surveys, local parameters such as complaints received and additionally strategic significance. £3m was earmarked to improve the authority's footways. Over £3m has been allocated for Bridge Maintenance along with £2.1m to maintain other highways assets such as Street Lights and Traffic Signals and for Drainage Improvement. 

The Pothole Action Fund has enabled us to target permanently fixing potholes. £3.6m was programmed for repairs across Lancashire on sections of roads in a condition which required the most regular visits to keep them safe and serviceable.

The legacy of the harsh winter of 2017/18 saw a significant increase in the number of potholes and highway defects being identified by internal teams and reported by members of the public, the £10.2m grant received in November 2018 has been used to address this.  All available LCC highway repair teams and a large number of external sub-contractor teams were engaged across the county ensuring our road network is safe for users with long lasting repairs which extend the life of the road.  Certain areas of the county were particularly badly affected with over 40,000 repairs being undertaken countywide.

In 2018/19 we employed spray injection patching machines that provide an innovative method of repairing potholes. The process allows defects to be repaired quickly compared to traditional methods, and by deploying them on a 'find and fix' basis, it was possible to target roads likely to have developed potholes based on the asset condition surveys. The machines identified and repaired potholes meeting investigation levels as well as defects that would be likely to develop into potholes in the near future. A further method of repair is the use of the thermal repair system which was also used on a find and fix basis but on a much smaller scale than injection patching

During 2018/19 the county carried out in the region of 600 localised drainage improvement schemes to resolve highway drainage concerns in areas where highway surface water was not draining effectively and therefore causing problems to highway users or neighbouring properties. The works carried out were varied but included replacing lengths of drain, alterations to drainage layouts and installation of additional drainage assets. The effects of carrying out such repairs include improved safety for highway users by removing standing water, alleviation of nuisance to properties neighbouring the highway and a reduction in the likelihood of potholes forming due to water damage.