We were promised a ‘pothole strategy’ of fixing all potholes in any given road rather than fixing just those that meet the ‘criteria’…..this hasn’t happened, why not?

Suffolk Highways are committed to developing the approach to defect and pothole identification to support more being completed at one visit. This may include the identification of defects and potholes during a safety inspection that may exceed intervention standards by the next safety inspection, particularly on the busier roads across the county and where these are in the proximity of defects that meet the intervention standard.

Any pothole left unrepaired, although to the naked eye looks deep enough, apparently doesn’t ‘meet the criteria’. Is not time that Suffolk Highways lowered their threshold criteria so all potholes can be repaired?

The criteria used in the Highway Maintenance Operational Plan sets out the intervention criteria. Currently, the depth of a pothole needs to be 40mm for a repair to be triggered. As set out above, the service is committed to developing the approach to defect and pothole identification which could mean that shallower and smaller defects are identified for repair in particular circumstances. 

A road was closed for one evening for repairs, the following day it transpired that a number of potholes had been missed. The highways team then had to return and repair the pothole(s) missed. Another classic case of money being wasted.

We work hard to coordinate and geographically group defect repairs. On occasion due to the large volumes we are currently experiencing, this may not always happen due to a range of factors:

1. potentially different traffic management requirements (e.g. one near to the junction of a main road and others away from the junction) – grouping traffic management heavy locations reduces cost by ensuring that only the appropriate traffic management resources are used in these locations and not at locations where less resources are needed.

2. Deterioration of the defect since the defect repair was ordered meaning more material is required. We plan the material required for our teams, along with some surplus. We need to ensure we are not wasting money excess material that isn’t used.

3. Linked to the above, the amount of material that can be carried by our vehicles is finite to ensure they are legally weight compliant. On occasions, repairs completed earlier the same day may have used more material (due to deterioration) meaning there is insufficient material remaining to complete all the works at a new work later the same day. The residual defects will then be rescheduled.

Defects are paid for on a defect basis. From a purely money perspective, there is no detriment to the taxpayer, in terms of repair costs, if our highways contractor makes multiple visits. Notwithstanding that, the contractor is incentivised to coordinate and geographically repair defects to reduce non-productive time (i.e. travel and site setup time) where the contractor is not being paid.

Why is it necessary for some potholes to be ‘temporarily repaired’ then the same gang return to do a ‘permanent repair’. I’ve had this conversation before with councillors, why not do a permanent repair once & never return?

A ‘permanent’ repair has a number of stages, including excavation, saw cutting, filling and compacting hot material, apply overhanding to seal the repair and waiting for the material to cool sufficiently for it to be trafficked. A ‘temporary’ repair is likely to be one that involves placing material into a defect and tamping it down. This is a much quicker process that implementing a ‘permanent’ repair.

There will be occasions where instructing or delivering a ‘temporary’ repair is the right thing to do, including:

1. Where the location is within a busy intersection or need to the centreline of a road (this will likely require substantial traffic management and/or a full road closure and which may require a Temporary Traffic Regulation Order to implement which is a legal process) we may take the decision to remove the hazard by implementing a ‘temporary repair’ whilst we undertake the legal process to close the road.

2. The location is on a diversion route for other planned road works so it would be disruptive to road users to implement another closure or install a conflicting diversion route and signage. 

3. The location is on a programme for future patching or resurfacing works.

Potholes are a huge concern voiced by almost everyone in every town and parish and is not exclusive to Suffolk. Could you explain the policy and procedure for identifying, repairing and maintaining the repairs.

Carriageways, footways and cycleways are inspected at regular intervals ranging between monthly to 12 monthly periods depending on the road / footway type. These safety inspections are undertaken to detect defects likely to present a danger or nuisance to the travelling public, and to rectify them with an appropriate degree of urgency.

 During these safety inspections, our team of 21 Highway Assessment Officers (HAO) use 

a set of intervention criteria to determine those that should be ordered for repair. The carriageway defect matrix is illustrated below details that any pothole more than 200mm diameter and 40mm deep will be identified for repair regardless of the road type. The matrix also details a more rapid response where a defect at the point of inspection is deeper that 100mm. Timescales for repair do vary, with a more rapid response given to busier roads.

The same principle applies to other defects.

Is any consideration given to additional pavements and off-road paths when development planning takes place?

Yes, any development likely to generate significant traffic is required to be supported by a Transport Statement or Assessment. These set out how the application is compliant with national policy, as set out in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). Chapter 9 of the NPPF sets out the requirements for ‘promoting sustainable transport’ in paragraphs 108 to 117 of the framework. The SCC transport planners and public right of way team, if consulted by the local planning authorities, will check that the proposal is compliant with policy, and recommend potential mitigation schemes, such as to provide dedicated walking and cycling infrastructure. However, SCC is only a statutory consultee so any restrictions on development, such as requiring infrastructure to be delivered by planning condition or obligation is a district responsibility.

The government has allocated further pothole funding on top of their normal road funding, how can we, the ratepayers, be assured/guaranteed that the extra money is spent on actually fixing potholes?

The Prime Minister’s Network North announcement on 4 October 2023 included a commitment to an additional £8.3 billion for local highway maintenance from 2023/24 - 2033/34, over and above what local authorities were expecting to receive. For Suffolk, £3.426m is to be received in each 2023/24 and 2024/25 with the residual provided each year to 2033/34. The Department for Transport have not confirmed the funding profile beyond these years.

The funding is not specifically for potholes and can also be used for resurfacing and other maintenance activities. A condition of the grant is for local highway authorities to publish on their website, details on what the funding has been spend on. 

Why are Highways not replacing worn, damaged or missing road direction signs?

In 2023/24, Suffolk Highways spent around £142,000 for sign replacement works, for signs that are not replaced as part Safety Defect Service (see below). In recognition that funding from the Department for Transport is limited and does not afford for Suffolk Highways to undertake all the maintenance that it would like and addition £1.125m of Suffolk County Council’s own funding has been made available to spend over this and  next year to deal with sign replacement work which includes  directional signage.