Bad weather causes pothole reports to almost double as ‘chunks’ ripped from Nottinghamshire roads

The Conservative-led authority says reports “almost doubled” between December 7 and January 7.

It follows freezing temperatures in December and recent heavy rainfall causing damage to the surface of the county’s highways.

Winter is typically the worst period for road damage, as cold temperatures cause surfaces to become more brittle.

The council says the sub-zero temperatures in December, salt used to grit roads and recent heavy rainfall caused the spike in pothole reports.

It follows the authority recently reporting drastically-improved statistics on the state of the county’s roads.

It came after a review in 2021 found the council should move away from the temporary asphalt repair method ‘Viafix’.

The new focus is on more permanent road replacement schemes and to shift towards a “right repair, right-first-time” approach.

Data published last month showed the use of ‘Viafix’ reduced by 61 per cent following the review, with the number of ‘patching gangs’ – teams at Via East Midlands, the council’s highways contractor, who conduct permanent road replacement projects on behalf of the authority – doubled from four to eight in a £15 million investment last April.

The council’s figures also showed the length of roads patched per day more than doubled from 46.9 sq metres a day to 96.5 following the review.

Coun Ben Bradley, council leader, member for Mansfield North and Mansfield MP, said the programme was “going really well” until recent weather conditions.

He said teams are working 24/7 to “tackle and keep up with it”, but stressed bad road conditions are a national issue.

He said: “Frustratingly, our roads programme was going really well until the weather hit and ripped chunks out of the roads.

“The feedback and data had been excellent and we will get back to that once we’ve finished firefighting the damage caused over the past couple of weeks.

“The roads are bad at the minute. Unfortunately, I can’t control the weather or the quality of work done long before I was here.

“We have put the investment in, teams are working 24/7 trying to tackle it and keep up with it, and this is a national issue.

“We’re not unique. One in three roads need resurfacing nationally, so we’re all in the same boat.”

The issue was discussed during the authority’s latest place select committee meeting.

Coun Penny Gowland told the meeting said: “I’ve been astonished by the effects of the review, it has been positive.

“I think the question we should be asking as a council is how we got into the mess. I guess it comes down to resources.”

Speaking afterwards Coun Neil Clarke, council portfolio holder for transport and environment, said: “Wintry conditions always take their toll on highways across Nottinghamshire.

“I would like to reassure our residents we are not alone as an authority in experiencing this.

“We ask residents and road users to bear with us; they will likely see an increase in emergency repairs as we keep roads safe through the winter until larger-scale permanent repairs can be made.

“However, we’ll still be undertaking permanent repairs wherever we can and are continuing with our large-scale patch repairs, as part of our four-year programme.”