Councillors in Lincolnshire have found a further £10m for highway maintenance after putting up Council Tax this year to cover what the county council said was a shortfall in funding.
Speaking at council on Friday (15 September), Lincolnshire CC leader Martin Hill OBE contrasted the highway authority’s ‘happy’ financial position with other local authorities, such as Birmingham, which have announced significant financial difficulties, including issuing Section 114 notices.
However, he told councillors that while around £2m had arisen from an underspend on day-to-day spending, following its budget meeting in February, the authority had received a ‘surprise bonus’ of extra government funding including business rates support, and higher than expected business rate and council tax receipts.
In February the council voted to increase Council Tax by 4.99%, including an extra £7m for highway maintenance against what it said was a £12m shortfall in Government funding.
On Monday, the authority announced the beginning of a £700,000 micro-asphalting scheme covering 77 roads, which it said was designed specifically for suburban areas.
The surface treatment is a preventative measure to seal the existing road surface, improve the texture, improve skid resistance and help water evaporate.
The council said these smaller stones and micro-materials are mostly used in residential areas with slower moving traffic as it is more resistant to the forces put through the road surface when a vehicle turns into a driveway or around a tight corner.
It added that this type of surface treatment can prolong the life of a road by up to 10 years.
Research published by the RAC last week named Lincolnshire, which has 5,500 miles of highways, as having done the most surface dressing on its A roads in 2021-2022.
