Coronavirus: Shropshire Council fixes thousands of potholes during lockdown

Shropshire Council’s highways team has been taking advantage of the reduction in traffic on Shropshire roads during the lockdown to repair thousands  of potholes and other defects.

On Monday 23 March 2020 there were 5,259 potholes and other defects on the county’s roads. Today there are under 3,000. Work being carried out includes texpatching*, thermal patching, jet patching, and work by two-person pothole gangs.

Meanwhile, a limited number of highways schemes have been progressed or completed in recent weeks, but all planned and non-safety critical highway works are currently suspended – though will restart once the current restrictions are lifted.

Treating a pothole using the new Texpatch material

Steve Davenport, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for highways and transport, said:

“During the coronavirus pandemic we’ve made some changes to our highways maintenance work.

“We’re prioritising essential repairs, such as potholes and pavement defects, to ensure that the county’s roads remain safe and serviceable. This means that work is continuing to take place on the network, and we’re ensuring that council staff and contractors are following the social distancing guidelines.

“We’re also aware that the impact on the public is significantly reduced by undertaking highways work during this period and, as a result, we’re maximising our resources wherever possible.

“I’d like to thank all of our highways officers and contractors for carrying out this important work during what it a difficult time. I gave my assurance we would catch up on pothole repairs after this winter’s dreadful flooding problems, and we are indeed doing this.”

Roads inspections have been largely unaffected, and all work is being monitored to ensure that it complies with Government guidelines.

Further information 

*About Texpatching. Under this new process, potholes are cleaned out, filled with a unique material called Texpatch, then covered with a neat, square patch. This will provide a longer-lasting, smoother, neater finish compared to traditional pothole repairs, and seals up all joints, which should result in an increased life span for the repair.

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