On social media and elsewhere, some people have asked, "With the roads so quiet during the lockdown, why doesn't the council do more work on potholes, resurfacing and the like?" Well, we have.
In the period since the start of the lockdown, KCC highways teams have patched 89,212 m2 of road surface and filled in 5,669 potholes. This has sustained or increased the rate of work since before lockdown, while more extensive resurfacing work has got under way since the start of May.
There are challenges to delivering this. Staff availability during the crisis, both at KCC and at our contractors, was identified early as a potential problem, although it has proved possible to continue to deliver. There has also been the need to take careful account of government and industry advice and to ensure safe working during the crisis.
Early on in my leadership of the County Council, I was determined to ensure that we committed all our possible resources to highways maintenance and we have an ambitious programme for this year. While almost everything in the Council's plans is made less certain by the impact, financial and otherwise, of the Covid-19 crisis, it is good that we are able to make progress on our roads now.
You can read a detailed press release from KCC on this here.
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