Citroen pays to repair potholes as councils drown in year-long backlogs
Research by Citroen found 1-in-20 UK roads require immediate repair from pothole damage
Ever been so fed up with the number of potholes on the road that you’ve thought about fixing them yourself? Well Citroen clearly did, because it funded a week’s worth of pothole repairs in Gateshead after research by the brand showed that councils across the UK are facing up to three-year waits to repair their roads.
Citroen obtained data about the state of the UK roads through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request issued to 424 councils across the country, enquiring about how many reported potholes in their jurisdictions were awaiting repair and found that 1-in-20 roads require immediate repair from pothole damage.
It also asked how long councils estimate it would take them to clear their entire backlog of pothole repairs. Pembrokeshire Council and Clackmannanshire Council both said they’d need a full year to get the job done, while Shropshire Council said it would take three years to clear its current backlog.
Although based on the data Citroen received, Shropshire doesn’t have the most potholes to deal with. No less than 8,686 have been reported to Shropshire Council, while Derbyshire County Council has at least 13,327 to deal with and Dumfries and Galloway Council has been overrun by 16,819 potholes.
Citroen’s FOI request also enquired how many miles of road in each local council’s jurisdiction were listed as condition green, amber or red, with the most severe requiring an investigation into whether immediate repairs are needed. According to Citroen’s research, there are more than 12,000 miles of red roads in the UK.
After learning all this, Citroen pledged financial support to Gateshead Council in the North East to cover one week of pothole repairs, which allowed 250 square metres of damaged carriageway to be fixed.
Greg Taylor, managing director of Citroen UK, said “Our Freedom of Information request is just the latest research released, which highlights the ongoing problems the UK’s roads are facing.
“More needs to be done to ensure the UK’s roads don’t deteriorate even further, and councils need more support to ensure they have facilities to provide their local residents with the suitable road infrastructure they require.”
Last year, the Government announced it would be investing an additional £1.6billion into the maintenance of local road infrastructure. However, the latest Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) Report indicated it would take approximately 12 years and £16.8billion to finally resolve the backlog of pothole repairs across the UK.
If you’re looking for a particularly comfy car to deal with the UK’s many, many potholes, the new Citroen C3 Aircross and C5 Aircross are now available through the Auto Express Buy A Car service, and feature the French brand’s signature ‘Advanced Comfort’ suspension and seats as standard.
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