City’s highway maintenance plans unveiled

As part of the 5 year investment programme of over £27million for the city’s roads, footways, traffic lights, street lighting, flood defences and the historic walls, the Council’s Annual Maintenance Report has unveiled the details of the planned work for this year.

The recently published Annual Maintenance Report for 2022/23 details the planned work to be undertaken over the next year to maintain around 1,000 miles of adopted highway, 43,000 gullies, 23,000 street lights, traffic signals and around three miles of the city’s historic walls to provide a safe, reliable infrastructure for all users.

The programme will see the Council invest almost £5million in highway schemes alone, which includes patching, carriageway, footway and pothole repairs. This will be further boosted by ward committee funding of £250k to be spent by local councillors in their wards. This excludes the funding allocated by central government, which has been set at £2.2mil for this year, after it was cut from £4m in 2020/21.

Around £1.2m will also be spent making improvements to ageing and outdated traffic signals, as part of the Traffic Signal Asset Renewal Programme. Whilst £644k will be invested in replacement of street lighting across the city, with drainage maintenance, investigation and renewal being allocated £900k.  

Councillor Anne Hook, Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrat group, commented:

“The maintenance and repair of our transport network is key to making travel safe and convenient for all whether they are driving, cycling, scooting or walking.

“Whilst the Government continues to fail local councils and slash road maintenance budgets, Lib Dem councillors are investing in our resident’s priorities. This year’s programme will see the available funding targeted to ensure road conditions and various other city infrastructure is maintained and improved, benefiting residents as well as businesses.”