Potholes in the road are a headache for both motorists and cyclists and now Liverpool City Region Combined Authority has secured £8.7m to fix them. Tony McDonough reports
Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (CA) has secured £8.7m from a £1.6bn Government funding package to fix potholes across its six boroughs.
This allocation of cash for the 2025/26 financial year will help deliver road and walkway repair and resurfacing projects across Liverpool, Wirral, Sefton, Knowsley, Halton and St Helens.
An increase of nearly 50% on local road maintenance funding from 2023, the funding well beyond the Government’s manifesto pledge, and is enough to fix the equivalent of more than seven million extra potholes across the UK in 2025/26.
And the Government is also making sure authorities collect data and deliver proactive maintenance before potholes start to form.
This funding announced has built-in incentives, with 25% of the uplift held back until authorities demonstrate they are tackling potholes and poor road surfaces.
Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram said this latest investment is in addition to almost £4m secured last year to upgrade and repair key parts of the highway network, including bike paths, bus lanes and foot paths.
“For far too long, local councils have been left scrambling to fix our roads with one hand tied behind their backs after years of funding cuts,” he explained.
“Communities in the Liverpool city region bore the brunt of that neglect, with potholes becoming a daily frustration and a symbol of the wider disrepair caused by austerity.
“Now, with a new government that’s serious about rebuilding from the ground up, we’ve got a chance to put things right. I’m determined to make sure that every pound coming to our region delivers real benefits.”
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Members of the public are also being encouraged to report potholes in their area to their local council by clicking here.
The Government is also announcing that at least 50% of surplus lane rental funds will be reinvested into highways maintenance, so that even more roads can be improved.
Lane rental schemes allow local highway authorities to charge companies for the time that street and road works occupy the road. The Department for Transport is also consulting on devolving powers to approve lane rental schemes.