CEC highways chiefs decline interview to explain state of our roads

Highways bosses at Cheshire East Council have declined an interview to explain the current situation with the borough’s crumbling road network.

But in a statement, they claim the extra £21 million allocated to CEC by the Government would be no where enough to fix the borough’s potholes.

Nantwich News approached the authority requesting an interview with head of highways at the council and/or the chair of the highways and transport committee, Cllr Mark Goldsmith.

But they declined, issuing the following statement from Cllr Goldsmith:

“The £21.03m allocated to Cheshire East is not solely for fixing potholes.

“Based on highways funding from Government for last year, it only equates to around an additional £6m for this year.

“The Department for Transport expects the council to use this grant to deliver all of its requirements for maintaining highway infrastructure, including roads, pavements, lighting, traffic signals, and bridges, for 2025/26.

“Their £1.6bn national package for local authorities in 2025/26 includes £500m extra for pothole repair.

“However, this must be viewed against the estimated £16bn of UK potholes that is being reported.

“Therefore, this new funding will fix less than 4% of existing potholes nationally.

“So, while the extra money for Cheshire East is very welcome, we need consistent and long-term investment for the public to see a marked improvement in the condition of our roads, and this allocation does not provide that.”

Thousands of motorists have hit out at the state of the major routes in and around Nantwich over the past few months.

These include the terrible state of the A530 Whitchurch Road, A530 Middlewich Road, the A500 Shavington bypass, the A51 Nantwich bypass among others.

Cheshire East highways continue to ask residents to report potholes via the authority’s “Fix My Street” page.

In a further statement, they wanted to explain how the system of reports and road repairs is managed.

“Our aim is to carry out permanent repairs on potholes and other road defects but sometimes that’s not possible.

“Due to factors including weather conditions, the traffic management needed, or the number of defects that have been identified, emergency repairs may be required and a more suitable repair planned for the future.

“For example, at this time of the year when we’re still experiencing freezing temperatures, we often make short-term emergency repairs to make the road safe.

“Emergency repairs may look less neat because they’ve not been cut out or sealed.

“Once we’ve made the road safe, we then assess what the longer-term approach should be.

“We may schedule the defect for future treatment, adding the stretch of road to either our patching or resurfacing programmes.

“Where there is a high volume of non-urgent defects on a stretch of road, we will plan patching or resurfacing work rather than individual pothole repairs.

“This is because it’s not cost-effective to fill each pothole separately.

“Our pothole repair teams are responsible for clearing up as they go, and they take pictures of every pothole repair so we can make sure they’re to a good standard.

“Each year, we identify and prioritise what maintenance, repair and improvement work to do each year.

“We do this by using our highway asset management approach which means we find the most cost-effective ways to make sure the network continues to meet the needs of road users and residents into the future.

“We invest in the right treatment, at the right place, at the right time.

“We are also currently prioritising works for 2025/26, and our finalised programme will be published soon.”

Residents are encouraged to continue reporting potholes and road defects.

For details on how, visit this page on CEC website.