Road repairs accelerated

Road repairs have accelerated with the help of £10 million extra funding that Devon County Council have invested in their roads budget this year.

In a report before the Full Council meeting this week, (Thursday 5 September), Councillor Stuart Hughes, Cabinet Member for Highway Management, said the County Council’s investment had enabled “a significant scaling-up” to tackle repairs on the county’s road network. He praised the efforts being made by highways teams as delivery had been “gathering pace” over the summer.

Since April, more than 18,000 square metres of road have been patched in over 350 locations across the county. These repairs have targeted sections of road which are deteriorating, patching extensive areas before potholes or safety defects form.

Patching schemes which have been completed include:

• Ashburton (Old Totnes Road)
• Dawlish (Shutterton Lane) 
• Exeter (Palace Gate) 
• Exmouth (Union Street) 
• Hemyock (Station Road)
• Newton Abbot (Birch Road) 
• Ottery St Mary (Ridgeway)
• Pinhoe (Mayfield Road)
• Silverton (Exeter Road)
• Totnes (Coronation Road) 
• Uffculme (Chapel Hill)
• Whimple (Chard Avenue)

Dragon patchers have been used on double-shifts to complete more than 5,250 patches, covering over 33,000 square metres. 

And a new carbon saving road repair material, called Elastomac, has been used to repair around 7,000 square metres of Devon’s roads following successful trials on small to medium size patches.

Elastomac is a surfacing material which is partly made of recycled road planings and recycled tyres. It reduces waste and carbon emissions while also being quicker to cure than traditional material used in pothole repairs, reducing traffic disruption.

Around £2 million of the funding is being invested in drainage improvements, while over 10km of double white lines have also been refreshed along with road markings at 175 roundabouts and 197 zebra crossings.

This year’s wet spring accounted for levels of potholes recorded between April and July being 54% higher than the same time last year.

To tackle potholes, we also invested an extra £2 million in highway revenue funding this year, on top of the £10 million capital funding. This has helped contribute to the repair of more than 47,500 potholes across the county so far this year.

The £12 million injection from Devon County Council is in addition to the £59.486 million of funding Devon has received from the Department for Transport (DfT) for its highway maintenance programme this year.

The annual major resurfacing programme for the A-road network in the county is also currently underway. Among these schemes, work on the A3072 Three Meadows to Highampton has been completed, the A377 Copplestone is due to be carried out this month (September) and the A3052 Harepath Hill in Seaton is scheduled for repairs in October.

Councillor Hughes also highlighted how our Highways Service is working closely with the Devon Association of Local Councils (DALC) to provide an overview of the key areas of the service. A series of events is being held with town and parish councils covering a variety of issues such as understanding roadworks and how roads are maintained.