Two thousand potholes repaired in three-week blitz

More than 2,000 of Plymouth's most urgent potholes have been successfully repaired as a result of a three-week blitz to improve the city’s roads reports Plymouth City Council.

The drive to permanently repair individual ‘category one’ potholes (those deeper than 40mm) reported by the public was planned to span two weeks, but was extended by a week to wipe out the backlog completely. The initiative finished on Friday 14 June.

Over the course of three weeks Amey, Plymouth City Council’s highways contractor, had eight gangs dedicated to pothole repairs, all done permanently except where further works are planned. This overlapped with the start of a programme of patching, which got under way on Monday 10 June and will see sections of road resurfaced where multiple potholes have developed and the general surface quality is deteriorating.

These works are the first part of the additional £2 million investment the Council has pledged to make in road maintenance every year for the next decade. Larger scale resurfacing on whole roads and larger sections of road will begin in July, alongside protective micro-asphalting on other roads at risk of damage.

Councillor Mark Coker, Cabinet Member for Transport said: “The pothole blitz has been a great success, with more than 2,000 filled. We’ve already started patching sections of road, and this will be followed by resurfacing. Between now and November our additional investment will significantly improve the city’s road network and drivers will already be noticing a tangible difference as they travel around Plymouth.

“The resurfacing programme is due to get under way in mid-July during the school summer holidays, when there is less morning and evening rush hour traffic. We will keep road users informed month-by-month about which roads are next to be repaired, through the local media and on our website and we ask for patience as Amey undertakes this essential work.”

Details of which roads will be repaired during the current patching programme can be found on the Council website. Information about the resurfacing due to start in July will also be posted when the schedule is finalised.

Amey has recently installed a ‘hotbox’ at its depot in Prince Rock. This is a large heated storage unit that keeps asphalt hot after it is delivered, for use the same day by pothole and patching gangs. This innovation is enabling permanent first time pothole repairs to be done a majority of the time, which will deliver better value for money through higher quality and longer lasting repairs.

The quickest and most direct way to report potholes and road defects is to email plymouth.watchman@amey.co.uk, call 01752 668000 or fill in the reporting form on the Council's website at www.plymouth.gov.uk/potholes.