Where is Rotherham's worst pothole?

ROTHERHAM is expected to get about £560,000 from the Government to repair the holey mess on the borough’s weather-hit roads—£120,000 less than the cost of emergency repairs.

The extra money is Rotherham’s share of £100 million to repair Britain’s pot-holed roads announced by the Chancellor in Wednesday’s budget.

Of the £100 million, £84 million will go to English councils.

Given that there are 149 highways authorities in England, that means an average of £564,000 each.

The total will be distributed to local authorities according to the amount and type of road mileage in their area.

Rotherham Borough Council last week allocated an additional £464,000 for worst-hit areas, on top of £222,000 out of the general road repairs budget.

A council spokeswoman said that it was impossible to say if the Government money would be enough to carry out all the repairs.

“We are waiting to find out what our allowance will be and we can’t say any more until we know how much that will be,” she said. “We gather that the extra money will be ring-fenced for highways and we welcome any financial assistance.”

Rotherham’s pothole problem worsened during the cold snap, as the water in road fissures froze and expanded, creating gaps that were widened by the passage of cars and lorries.

The problem was laid bare in a report published this week, which stated that nationally 1.4 million road craters were filled over the past year—a rise of 40 per cent.

The Asphalt Industry Alliance—which commissioned the survey of local authorities in England and Wales—warned that the poll did not include the results of the latest cold snap, which was longer and spread over a wider geographical area than the freeze in early 2009.

The AIA said that last winter’s cold weather had left councils with a £400 million hole in maintenance budgets, with the Chancellor’s intervention not doing enough to close a funding gap that has probably widened after the most recent cold spell.

Motorists’ groups also argued that greater investment was needed because a patchwork of repairs on any one stretch of road is likely to develop further gaps.

The RAC Foundation said that it would would “not go far” and local councils would need “billions rather than millions spent on maintenance to bring our road network back up to standard.”

But the AA welcomed the announcement. A spokesman said: “This was the amount spent on filling holes last year. We are delighted the current pothole plague can be addressed.”

The Local Government Association’s transport and regeneration board, said that the Government had listened to its call for an extra £100 million to help councils fill in more potholes.