Potholes video gives answer to a familiar frustration
Buckinghamshire County Council’s cabinet member for transport has lent his voice to a YouTube video answering a familiar question: “If you came here to fix this pothole, why couldn’t you fix the one next to it while you were at it?”
Mark Shaw said the video informs residents about the work of Transport for Buckinghamshire in an accessible and simple way.
He said: “This is a question which is asked really frequently, and we know it frustrates a lot of people. I’m a big fan of speaking plain English, and trying to get information to Buckinghamshire’s residents in a way that everyone can understand, so I was more than happy to hop into the recording booth to lend a hand!”
The answer to the question is simple – TfB has a finite amount of finance, and therefore workforce, required to fill the potholes and we have to use them effectively to ensure those requiring urgent repair are fixed first.
If TfB was to use up resources filling a smaller pothole, it may leave a larger pot hole further up the road unrepaired. Safety is the first concern, so urgent fixes must be done first.
However, there is good news for Buckinghamshire’s road users.
In April this year, the government’s Department for Transport announced a new pothole fund, of £50 million nationwide, and Buckinghamshire was awarded £546,000 as its share, which is estimated to stretch to around 10,000 additional repairs.
What’s more, pot holes fixed with the Velocity jet patcher, which is used on rural roads, comes with a 12 month repair guarantee.
These repairs are quicker, more efficient, long lasting, low carbon emitting, and applied cold so they are ready to drive on immediately.
The best way to report potholes is via our Report It tool on the council’s website, at www.buckscc.gov.uk/transport/tell-tfb. The Report It tool allows members of the public to pinpoint the location of the pothole on a map, add photos to support the report if they wish, and then receive a customer reference number which they can use to track the progress of their report.
Once a report has been received, highways inspectors will assess the potholes and determine the appropriate response. This will vary, depending on criteria, from a two hour response through to a 28 day repair.
Around 2,000 potholes are repaired each month, and the roads are inspected regularly according to a schedule, so a lot of potholes will be picked up by these inspections and programmed for repair.
A substantial amount of money has also been invested in the county wide resurfacing programme to improve the condition of the roads.
You can see the info video, and find more information about pot hole filling by visiting the pothole page on our website: www.buckscc.gov.uk/transport/were-working-on-it/highways-maintenance/potholes
Youtube embed: https://www.youtube.com/embed/73d9Czl-hBM
Youtube url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73d9Czl-hBM#action=share