£104m on the way for potholes and repairs in Staffordshire
A total of £104 million is heading to Staffordshire to fund road maintenance projects and tackle the growing problem of potholes, the Government announced today.
The money is part of a £6 billion fund for local authorities across the country and will be spent in the region over the next six years.
Meanwhile, the Highways Agency has said 156 roadworks schemes will be halted over Christmas and New Year to help ease congestion on the roads.
A succession of severe winters and the devastating floods earlier this year have left councils playing catch-up with road maintenance.
Almost £512.5m has been awarded to the West Midlands – with £104m heading to Staffordshire. Elsewhere in the region, Wolverhampton is getting £11.7m, Walsall £12.6m, Sandwell £16.8m and Dudley £15.8m.
Mark Deaville, Staffordshire County Council's cabinet support member for highways and transport, today welcomed the announcement of the funding.
He said: "We recognise having good quality roads is important to both residents and businesses and over the past five years the county council has invested an extra £50m to help improve the network.
"While we understand that potholes are an issue for motorists, in Staffordshire we want to see more focus and more funding in improving the overall condition of the network to reduce the risk of potholes from occurring in the first place.
"With a vast rural network stretching across 6,000km improving the network in Staffordshire is a huge on-going, costly challenge and it is good to be able to plan for six years to help deliver maximum benefitsand maximum value for Staffordshire taxpayers." The county council currently fixes around 350 potholes every week.
Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said: "The £512 million I am announcing today for the West Midlands will put an end to short-term fixes and will mean we have committed £10 billion between 2010 and 2021.
"This huge investment is part of our long -term economic plan to ensure we have a transport network fit for the 21st century."
Almost 400 miles of Highways Agency roadworks will be halted over Christmas and New Year to help festive journeys run smoothly.
Schemes now stopped until midnight on January 2 include bridge joint works along the M6 between junction 8 for the M5 and 10 for Walsall; 11 miles of roadworks on the M6 between junction 10 for Walsall and 10a for the M54 , Churchbridge Island works in Cannock; 4.8miles of works along the M54 between junction 1 for Cannock and 3 for Wolverhampton and footpath repairs along the A449 in Coven.
