Number of potholes reported in Sandwell almost doubles
More than 2,000 potholes have been reported across Sandwell in the first six months of the year, new figures have revealed.
A Freedom of Information request to the borough council showed that 2,103 potholes were reported to the local authority between January 1 and June 11 this year – nearly double compared with the same period in 2017.
In 2017, between January 1 and June 30, there were 1,320 individual potholes reported.
Cabinet member for highways and environment, Councillor David Hosell, said chiefs had expected to see an increase in the number of potholes after the long winter.
This year the highest number of individual potholes reported was 521 in April, followed by 449 in March and 428 in January, according to the figures.
They also revealed that 2,386 were reported for the whole of 2015, and 2,073 in 2016.
Councillor Hosell said: “Given the very long, extremely cold winter we had we would expect to see an increase in the number of potholes on our roads. That’s the case in Sandwell and across the whole country.
“In recent years during the first five months of the year we have identified an average of 1,100 potholes, and for the same period this year it was around 2,020.
“In Sandwell, we have committed more than half-a-million pounds to dealing with potholes this year, plus in April, the council took emergency action to commit a further £240,000 to deal with extensive damage caused to our roads over the winter.
“We are also investing in sealing cracked surfaces throughout the summer and will also completely replace a number of road surfaces over the autumn and winter.
"Since 2010, in Sandwell – like all councils – we have sustained cuts to our budgets. We’ve worked tirelessly to ensure national austerity does not impact upon services like highways.”
