TfB’s Plane and Patch programme gets off to a great start!

Following a successful 2018 programme, Transport for Buckinghamshire’s (TfB) 2019 Plane and Patch programme began on 4 March 2019. Since then, 13 roads have already undergone treatment across the county, including areas in Wendover, Aylesbury and High Wycombe.

Plane and Patch work is carried out on areas of road which have encountered significant damage or deterioration to the road surface. The damaged road surface patch is cut out and completely resurfaced with new material rather than repairing individual potholes. Areas receiving Plane and Patch treatment vary from sites as small as 20 square metres to much larger areas, some as big as 1,500 square metres.

The Plane and Patch treatment programme is defined and prioritised by:

• TfB Local Area Technicians (LATs) who have a detailed knowledge of the roads in their local areas.
• Locations showing large numbers of defects/potholes in one area, found upon inspection by TfB and
• Areas identified from reports of potholes and other defects which come in from Fix My Street (the online reporting tool). https://www.fixmystreet.buckscc.gov.uk/

Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Transportation, Mark Shaw, Deputy Cabinet Member, Paul Irwin and Buckinghamshire County Council Chief Executive Rachael Shimmin have been taking a keen interest in this essential programme of work.

Mark Shaw explained: “Plane and Patch is a great way to address pothole ‘farms’, providingfocus on those roads which cause the greatest concern for members of the public and local residents. Approximately £4 million is being spent on Plane and Patch this year, in addition to the £15 million being spent on capital resurfacing schemes. The Plane and Patch programme is covering more than 150 different schemes across Buckinghamshire. Whilst all this is going on, individual repairs continue to be made to priority defects, including reported potholes, to keep the highway safe.

“I’m sure that our residents will appreciate that whilst we’d like to treat all roads, our budget doesn’t stretch that far – but I am confident that they will soon start to notice the difference”.