Lincolnshire will receive an additional £3.4 million from the Government's Pothole Action Fund to repair the county's roads.
The conservative-led county council now has a total of £12.4 million to spend on potholes, road repairs and other improvements during 2018/19, which included the £9m previously earmarked by the council for this financial year.
Lincolnshire's allocation of this extra funding is the third highest in the country, slightly behind the North East Combined Authority (£4.5m) and Devon (£4.4m).
Cllr. Richard Davis, Executive Member for Highways commented:
“The weather has been a nightmare for the county's roads this winter, but it's reassuring that central government has recognised the scope to the issues we're facing here in Lincolnshire at the moment.
“We've already brought in additional teams to help deal with the extra workload and this £3.4m means we can be even more proactive in bringing our roads closer to the standard we'd like them to be in.
“We're also finalising our Lincolnshire Pothole Plan at the moment, which will overview the key problem areas around the county, as well as our revised approach to dealing with potholes, including the technologies we use.”
The additional money brings the total investment in Lincolnshire's roads to £37.4m for 2018/.19, which is £2m more than in 2017/18.
Cllr. Clio Perraton-Williams, who is the Support Councillor for Highways, Transport and IT, added:
“With five and a half thousand miles of road to maintain, it is important that every penny is spent wisely in keeping our massive road network in the best possible condition with the limited resources available.
“Whilst any additional money from central government is welcome it dosen't cover the £300m backlog of repairs we face here in Lincolnshire. This is why I and my Conservative colleagues are committed to campaign for a fairer funding deal for Lincolnshire.
“If the local government in Lincolnshire received the average funding for council areas in England, we would benefit from an extra £116m a year for services, every year. Some of which would almost certainly go on our highway infrastructure and repairs. That could make a massive difference.”
Sir Edward Leigh, the Conservative Member of Parliament for the Gainsborough constituency, welcomed the news saying:
“I am delighted that the Secretary of State for Transport has announced a £100m fund to help with road repairs caused by the recent bad weather. Our county is to receive one of the largest amounts; with just shy of three and a half million pounds allocated to Lincolnshire. A recognition of the sparsity and rurality of the county. This will help boost the county council’s efforts to get on top of the pothole problem.”
