Drive to improve in £300k roads award
Investment in Staffordshire's roads has received a welcome boost after the Government gave a £300,000 cash injection to the county council.
Investment in Staffordshire's roads has received a welcome boost after the Government gave a £300,000 cash injection to the county council.
The money will be used in the council's drive to get maximum value for money for every pound spent on the road network.
The biggest award made to any West Midlands authority will help maintain and improve Staffordshire's roads. A new system is already being developed in the region – among the most advanced in the UK.
Staffordshire Highways has already been rated as a four-star service delivering value for money for the taxpayer.
An extra £2.9 million has been awarded to councils in the West Midlands to help them manage their roads, bridges and other assets.
Transport Minister Paul Clark announced the funding adding: "High quality local highways are vital to communities; connecting people with work, shops, services, families and friends.
"I am very pleased at the extremely high level of interest in this funding. It demonstrates a real understanding of the importance of asset management in delivering a good service to the public."
The Staffordshire team has been leading the way nationally in looking for new ways of working – and this includes ensuring that information is bang up to date on the complex network of roads, paths, drains, bridges, lights, banks and ditches which the organisation is responsible for maintaining.
Staffordshire's Cabinet member for highways Councillor John Wakefield said: "We were already making a major investment in the technology we need to maximise the efficiency of our maintenance operation and this extra cash will really help.
"In the last few months we have unveiled a new Integrated Highways Management System that will revolutionise how we work.
"All the information we get about the network, whether from the public via the Highways Hotline on 0800 232323, or from our network of inspectors and crews is all fed into one high tech central control system. If they find a fault the exact location is beamed back to central control."
