Potholes row ensures Council’s plan for road repairs is heading for a bumpy ride

Arow about potholes is overshadowing Trafford Council’s plans to tackle road improvements in the borough.

The Council has allocated an extra £2 million to significantly improve and upgrade the 518 miles of roads is responsible for.

The unexpected windfall in the Council’s budget comes from the green waste collection service and increased income from its shares in Manchester Airport.

Leader of Trafford Council, Councillor Sean Anstee, said: “Investing in the infrastructure of our borough is vital to ensuring that Trafford continues to thrive and grow. We’ve listened to both our residents and our highways experts and fully appreciate how important it is to continue to invest in our roads to ensure one of our most important assets is maintained.  

“We are delighted to be in a position where we can use additional funding from such successful initiatives to honour our commitment to ensuring our highways are in the best condition for the benefit of everyone and to ensure Trafford remains a place where people want to live and work.”

Over the coming months, the Council will have more information to share on the whole of its Highways Investment Programme, which will include “when” and “where” improvements are taking place across the borough under its “keeping you informed” campaign, which will be available early in the new year.

But the Liberal Democrats group says the present system of filling in potholes is failing to provide a solution to the problem. “The patchwork filling job on some of the borough’s potholes before Christmas have already begun to disintegrate.

“Our online survey coupled with doorstep questioning showed 90% of respondents saying they saw potholes on a regular basis, with 50% of that group stating damage to their vehicles,” said Councillor Jane Brophy.

‘Our council team and campaigners are now reporting the same potholes two or three months after having them repaired, with local residents aghast at the sloppy workmanship of the repairs done in October/November. It is really shocking that some potholes are now bigger after patchwork repairs are disintegrating.”