County council planning to invest more than £50 million on road improvements

Coun John Cottee, chairman of the communities and place committee at Nottinghamshire County Council

In the county council’s latest annual satisfaction survey, people’s overwhelming priority – 80 per cent – for spending on transport was repairing roads and pavements, writes Coun John Cottee.

This is why the council has recently signed off hundreds of schemes to be delivered from now until March 2020.

Subject to final approval, councillors are looking to boost this year’s highways budget to more than £50 million, which includes a proportion of the authority’s additional £20 million cash pot which was earmarked last year for repairing and improving Nottinghamshire’s local road network.

This additional £20 million funding is allocated to schemes which reflect local priorities – so predominantly residential road maintenance.

The council is also keen to deliver improvements to unclassified roads, concentrating on roads it knows are going to deteriorate in the next few years and making the ‘right repair at the right time’ to avoid large bills.

In the Mansfield area, highways schemes will includes junction improvements at Leeming Street and Clumber Street, resurfacing on the A6191 Chesterfield Road South and surface dressing on the A6191 Rock Hill.

And in Kirkby-in-Ashfield, a surface dressing scheme on the B6139 Coxmoor Road is planned.

The council is also making substantial investment in new equipment which will speed up and increase the range of options to repair roads in the county.

This will provide workers with new tools when it comes to tackling potholes and is another long-term investment to save more money further down the line whilst improving the quality of road repairs, increasing productivity and extending the life expectancy of Nottinghamshire’s roads.