'Dodge The Potholes'
5 April 2013, 06:00 | Updated: 5 April 2013, 11:02
Drivers have been told they'll have to continue to dodge pot-holes along some of the region's biggest trunk-roads for weeks to come.
The Highways Agency have told Heart they're yet to work out their budget and repairs plan for the year ahead.
They say their finalised budget and roads repairs plan won't be finalised for several weeks and can't say at this stage when repairs to some of the region's biggest routes will get underway. Those roads include the A5, A14, A43 and A45.
Some of the worst driving conditions have been reported on the A43 around Towcester and Brackley and on the A45 around Wellingborough.
Local councils, responsible for smaller routes like country and town centre streets, say they have begun their repairs to potholes.
Some, like Hertfordshire County Council's Highways Department started their Winter Recovery Programme (patching works) in 22 areas in January.
BEDFORDSHIRE - LUTON
Luton Borough Council say their resurfacing programme for 2013/14 has been approved - but could still be looked-at again by the council's Scrutiny Committee.
The overall programme is for 5 years but will invariably change as roads deteriorate at different rates for a variety of reasons. It is even likely that even the roads for 2013/14 will change as the effects of the wet summer/ cold winter and spring become more apparent.
Some of roads which will repaired including:
* Beechwood Rd between Dunstable Road to Waller Avenue
* Crawley Green Road
* M1 junction 11 to Humberstone Road
* New Bedford Road
* A505 Airport Way
BEDFORDSHIRE - CENTRAL BEDFORDSHIRE
Bedford Borough Council told Heart: "The Council is committed to improving the borough’s road network and has allocated £5.9m to this area during 2013/14.
The Mayor has just invested a further £180,000 in additional funding to help tackle the potholes which have appeared over the winter. They will be ready to lead the assault on potholes which we have been unable to tackle (as they cannot be repaired properly in the very cold weather).
Local residents can report a pothole by contacting the Highways Helpdesk on 01234 718003. All potholes will be assessed on a priority basis."
BUCKINGHAMSHIRE - COUNTY COUNCIL
Buckinghamshire County Council (BCC) have told Heart their "We're Working On It" programme is a £10m scheme for the first tranche of road repairs this year of the £25m earmarked for investment in Buckinghamshire's roads over the coming two years.
Transport for Buckinghamshire (TfB) has announced the first 57 roads across the county to be treated between now and March 2014 including the A413 Wendover Road at Weston Turville, the Oakfield Road in Aylesbury and the Douglas Road in Aylesbury, the A422 in Buckingham (High Street & West Street) and the A422 Brackley Road in Westbury.
BUCKINGHAMSHIRE / MILTON KEYNES
Milton Keynes Council have told Heart they have begun a 6-week intensive campaign - a pothole blitz starting on Monday April 8th with a special task force of 10 crews who will spend 6 weeks tackling the large numbers of potholes which appeared on the roads after the prolonged cold weather.
These 'Pothole Patrols' will be out on the roads until the 17 May filling in the holes which have already been reported to the council.
An MK Council spokesman told Heart: "We are expecting road temperatures to increase sufficiently this month April so that the crews can finally get out and get this intensive repair programme underway.
The council has received a number of reports from the public in relation to potholes and has used this information, in addition to inspections carried out by officers, to devise a route of repairs listed in order of priority."
This list can be found HERE (www.milton-keynes.gov.uk/transport).
HERTFORDSHIRE
Vince Gilbert - head of Highways in Hertfordshire they've had an especially harsh winter which as badly affected local roads: "At it's peak, we were getting up to 2000 defects appearing each week - about three times the normal number of defects.
So now, we're getting the roads in as good as condition as we can manage before we get into next winter - that's our long term maintenance goal."
Since January, the Herts CC Highways Dept. has been carrying out its' "Winter Recovery Programme" (patching repair works) - and we're nearing the end of 22 schemes across Hertfordshire.
Found a fault in Herts? http://www.hertsdirect.org/services/transtreets/highways/hhonlineservices/hfr/
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE
Northamptonshire County Council (NCC) have yet to finalise plans for road repairs for the year ahead. NCC are responsible for some of the busiest roads in the county, outside of the Highways Agency's responsibility.
Read more about potholes in Northamptonshire: http://www.northamptonshire.gov.uk/en/councilservices/Transport/roads/Pages/report_problem.aspx