Surrey CC to make roads pothole-proof

Surrey County Council will make more than 800 roads pothole-proof over the next three years.

A total of 177 roads have been lined up to be reconstructed this financial year as part of the council’s Operation Horizon project.

The other 642 roads in the £100 million initiative to overhaul more than 300 miles of road are set to be spread over the following two financial years.

Each road comes with a 10-year guarantee, meaning the contractor pays for any repairs during that period.

The first two years of the programme saw savings of £7m through smarter ways of working – enough to resurface 25 miles of road for free.

However, Department for Transport funding for Surrey is still more than £40m short of the £125m needed to maintain the county’s roads for the next five years.

Surrey County Council cabinet member for highways John Furey said: “Good roads are vital to Surrey’s economic growth, which is why we’re working incredibly hard to provide better, longer-lasting surfaces.

“The results of our efforts to provide smoother roads can already be seen across the county – for example commuter routes like the A22 and A25 – but we still have a funding gap of more than £40m over the next five years at a time when our budgets are under strain from rising adult social care and school place costs.”