Potholes. A full explanation from Liz Leffman

Wed 18 Feb, 08:49 (last edited on Wed 18 Feb, 09:22)

Hi Paul

Potholes are not WODCs responsibility which is why they were not mentioned in their recent brochure.

As the weather improves you will start to see the potholes filled.

This is why we have a problem at the moment:

Oxfordshire is currently experiencing one of the most challenging periods in recent years for road maintenance, as a combination of severe winter weather, persistent rainfall and aging road surfaces, which has caused a sharp rise in potholes across the county.

The problem is not unique to Oxfordshire—local authorities across the country are seeing similar patterns—but the scale and speed of deterioration this winter has placed significant pressure on crews, budgets, and response times. Successive governments have underfunded road maintenance and the previous Tory administration adopted a strategy of “managed decline” which means that we have a massive backlog of work, and problems with the underlying structure of our roads.

A number of factors have combined to create the ‘perfect storm’ on our roads. Freeze–thaw cycles have repeatedly expanded cracks in the road surface, causing more defects to appear and existing ones to worsen rapidly. Persistent wet weather has allowed water to penetrate deeper into road layers, weakening the structure and aging road surfaces, many beyond their intended life, now deteriorate faster without timely preventative treatments. This has led to record numbers of defects, particularly in January, which traditionally sees the highest spike each year.

With almost all highway authorities reporting a significant backlog of repair, it is clear that highway maintenance is underfunded to maintain local road networks in a good condition using traditional methods, indeed with the money made available to the county, the council is only able to fund approximately 15-20 miles of resurfacing each year.

The council therefore has to take a prudent view in the way it maintains its highway and to this end, the County Council has an Highway Asset Management Plan that seeks to balance the costly repair of roads that are already in the poorest condition with cheaper resurfacing schemes on roads that are about to fall into disrepair to prevent more costly repairs at a later date. This however, still leaves many roads where pot holes are occurring to which the council needs to react.

Despite the scale of the challenge, the County Council has taken decisive action:

• 21 repair crews are now active, including specialist "dragon" patching units and additional large patching ‘bobcat’ teams.

• Weekend and extended hours shifts are in place to tackle backlogs more quickly.

• Hotspot locations, where residents are reporting the most issues or where clusters of claims are emerging, are being targeted with extra attention.

• The Council is also encouraging residents to report defects with photos, which speeds up assessments and helps crews reach the right locations faster. I can see that the pothole on Plum Lane has been reported on Fix My Street. If you were able to upload a photo of this particular pothole to Fix My Street, that may speed up the process of getting it repaired.

With additional crews in place, targeted repairs underway and improved processes for triaging public reports, the Council expects to make significant progress over the coming weeks. I hope that the above has reassured you that the Council are actively taking steps to try and address this issue. 

I hope that helps to explain the problem, Paul.

Best regards

Liz