Council confirms extra £2.5m investment tackling potholes across Bucks

Bucks Council has allocated £2.5 million to tackling potholes throughout the county as part of its road resurfacing programme.

The Council announced a further £3 million would be invested in highways improvements, yesterday (July 21), while £500,000 will go on road markings.

The potholes will be repaired using the so-called ‘Plane and Patch’ technique – a resurfacing treatment used to repair patches of badly worn road that complements the larger scale road-surfacing programme.

Plane and Patch helps prevent roads from falling into a condition where they would then require more expensive structural work, the Council says.

By the Council's calculations the extra £3 million investment takes spending on roads and footway up to £27 million in 2021-22. The Council says it will invest £100 million on road improvements in the next four years.

Councillor Steven Broadbent said: "This is about us listening to what residents want and allocating funds accordingly. We all use the county’s road network, and we all know the damage bad weather and heavy use causes. We know how our residents feel about it, so this is why we are acting.

"I’m pleased that unlike other places, and despite the financial pressures of the pandemic, that Buckinghamshire Council can draw on extra funds for projects like this. I hope the overall scale of the funding we’re setting aside plus the additional £3 million investment shows everyone how determined we are to improve our roads.

"This is part of our wider investment in Buckinghamshire’s roads – and residents are likely to see road maintenance crews out and about as well as signage highlighting our ‘Investing in your roads’ programme."

The road marking works will begin in September and the extra Plane and Patch works will start in October. All of the works will be delivered by the end of the 2021/22 financial year.