Essex gets extra £11m for pothole repairs

Essex County Council is planning to invest an extra £11m to repair the damage caused to roads following the severe weather of recent months.

The council fixed over 50,000 potholes in 2011/12. The latest round of repairs will start this month with the second phase of work starting in November.

The focus will be on strengthening the road network to ensure that fewer potholes occur in the longer term.

Essex County Council will also start work on its annual surface dressing programme next week.

The ten-week programme will see surface dressing carried out on 1.6 million square metres of road across the county.

County Councillor Derrick Louis, Cabinet Member for Highways and Transportation said: “The recent weather extremes have taken a severe toll on our roads and we are determined to get them back to the standard our residents deserve.

"I understand how frustrating potholes can be, which is why we are determined to fix as many as possible and make sure that they don’t return in the future.

"This extra investment of £11 million confirms our commitment to maintaining and improving the condition of our roads, which we recognise is an absolute priority for businesses and residents across the county.”