It would take an estimated £142 million to get Swindon roads to a ‘like new’ condition, according to Swindon Borough Council.
The RAC, which produces the RAC Pothole Index, has estimated that it would cost £16.3 billion to clear the backlog of road maintenance issues across England and Wales.
Locally, Swindon Borough Council says they have budgeted just over £2 million in 2024/25 for road surfacing work and have allocated an additional £2 million for day-to-day highway maintenance, including pothole repairs (£170,000) and maintenance work related to roads, pavements and cycle paths.
Since the beginning of the year, 8329 potholes have been repaired across Swindon and 438 of these were carried out in September.
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Their records show that 408 of these were fixed within five working days of being reported, 369 were identified by their team of highway inspectors who regularly check the 522 miles of Swindon’s roads, 646 miles of paths and pavements and 76 miles of cycle paths.
Meanwhile, 288 repairs were reported by residents and the council urges anyone with concerns about a pothole to report it on their website.
According to Swindon Borough Council’s website, a pothole must be at least 40mm deep in the road surface to be considered a safety defect and those which pose a high level of risk are repaired urgently within 24 hours.
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