Seven-figure Rotherham pothole repair bill forecast

ROTHERHAM'S potholed roads could cost close to £1m to repair, fears Rotherham Borough Council.

Council engineers say early indications are that although the damage caused by December's bad weather is not as bad as that caused by the previous winter's Big Freeze, there is still time for for damage to be caused.

Last winter's pothole damaged cost £1.02m to put right and the council is predicting a similar figure for this winter's damage.

Just under £700,000 has been budgeted for winter repairs, leaving a shortfall of £300,000.

Network principal engineer Robert Stock said: “Last winter, the Government did provide an additional £100 million nationally as a contribution to the repair of the damage but this is unlikely to be repeated.

“Some of the damage from last winter has not yet been permanently repaired and these areas are the greatest risk of widespread surface failure.”

Up to 18 inches of snow fell across the borough in the last few days of November and the first few of December, when all available Streetpride resources were deployed.

About 4,400 tonnes of salt was used from the council’s Greasbrough depot and new barn at Hellaby.

Pothole spotter Barbara Johnson is the latest to email us details of potholes she has encountered. Click here to check out our pothole map for the locations.

 

Mr Stock said: “With this intensity of snowfall it was extremely difficult to keep even major roads clear.

“It takes four hours to treat all of our precautionary routes and this resulted in roads recovering in snow between treatments, especially as other traffic was light.

“Salt also becomes less effective below -8 deg C and these extremely low temperatures were experienced quite regularly.”

The impassable A57 was the main priority for the first three days in December, when mountain rescue was called in and 100 lorries were stuck.

“The problems on the A57 and the congestion they caused on the surrounding network made clearance of roads in this general area much more difficult,” said Mr Stock.

Hundreds of requests were received by the council asking for routes to be cleared. The most urgent were responded to over the December 4 and 5 weekend.

Main roads are prioritised to try and maintain public transport. JCBs accompanied the salting vehicles to break up the compacted snow and ice.

Teams refilling Rotherham’s 320 salt bins had reports of them being emptied almost immediately. There were also reports of full containers being stolen.

The current allocation for Streetpride’s winter services is £565,554—sufficient only for a mild winter. A contingency reserve of £130,000 is also available.

Mr Stock said: “This highlights an obvious gap between the current budget and the levels of expenditure in this and the past two winters.

“The resulting budgetary pressures do need to be addressed.”

The Local Transport Plan maintenance allowance will rise by £500,000 in Rotherham for 2011/12. It is unclear how much of this will be allocated for highways.

STREETPRIDE director David Burton has thanked Advertiser readers for their submissions to our Pot Spots campaign.

We have forwarded all reports to his officers for cases to be logged and actioned as quickly as possible.

To help his staff as much as possible, we are asking our readers to include as much information as they can on submissions.

Mr Burton said that helpful details would include an exact address or location, approximate depth and whether the pothole is on a road, pavement or verge.

It’s easy to send us your pothole details.

You can email or text us the location and, if you like, you can add a picture . . . but remember to mind the traffic when taking your snap.

And don’t forget to include your name and address.

You can email [email protected]. Please put the words POT SPOTS in the header.

Or you can send us a text message*. Text the word COMMENTS (followed by a space) your name and the location of your pothole and send to 84555.

We’ll pass on all the details to Rotherham Borough Council, or you can report potholes direct to Streetpride on 01709 336003.

To text us a pothole picture, text the word PIX (followed by a space), your name and the location of your pothole, attach your photo by MMS and send to 07843 500911.

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