Latest news with #LocalTransportGrant
BBC News
25-07-2025
- Automotive
- BBC News
North Northamptonshire to spend £5m on transport upgrades
More than £5m will be spent on resurfacing roads in the north of the county as part of a wider £7.7m package to improve local funding, from the Local Transport Grant, will support multiple projects focused on road maintenance, traffic safety and bridge repairs in North Northamptonshire. The largest share of the investment - £5.095m - has been allocated to resurfacing works across the Northamptonshire Reform UK councillor Chris McGiffen, said: "This funding is significantly more than the council has received for general transport improvements to date and gives an opportunity to deliver schemes that have previously been unaffordable." Other major investments include £1.2m for replacing a weak bridge deck on Station Road in Earls Barton and £500,000 for waterproofing at Irthlingborough viaduct. A further £350,000 has been earmarked for a new pedestrian crossing on the A509 at projects include bus gate enforcement cameras in Kettering and Corby, £270,000 for new vehicle-activated signs, and £40,000 to close a road to tackle of the local authority, Martin Griffiths, said the works would support long-term improvements to local roads. "This funding, alongside the wider plans for highways, should mean residents start to see a difference," he added.A sum of £7.7m from the local transport grant for 2025-26 - rising to £54m by 2029-30 - can be used for road maintenance, safety upgrades and traffic signal projects are expected to be completed by summer 2026. Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
20-04-2025
- Automotive
- BBC News
Staffordshire road repair fund awarded almost 16m
A government windfall of £15.6m has been awarded to Staffordshire County Council to enable it to repair more roads. The funding was welcomed by councillors, but one senior member has warned of a funding shortfall in the long term. The Local Transport Grant came after the council's cabinet approved a £60m investment in the county's highways over the next three years. This includes £15m to fix more potholes. Councillor Mark Deaville, cabinet member for strategic highways, said it would take a doubling of the current level of government funding over a 20-year period to address the current national maintenance backlog."It's good news, but challenges will undoubtedly remain with regard to maintenance of our highways," he said. Cabinet members heard that £5m would be used to increase the number of crews on sites repairing roads. It will include funding for a second machine for pre-patching and pre-surface dressing, which can also be used for general maintenance and repairs. This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, which covers councils and other public service organisations. Follow BBC Stoke & Staffordshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
BBC News
13-04-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Blind opera singer's concern over Staffordshire pothole danger
A blind opera singer who was a finalist on Britain's Got Talent says she wants road maintenance to be taken seriously, as she spoke of the dangers of potholes to visually impaired Leigh, from Audley in north Staffordshire, said potholes were not only "really dangerous" but that she had fallen into some where she had "nearly disappeared.""Some of them are so deep, you can't believe the council are just ignoring them," she County Council said it had fixed more than 36,000 potholes across the county in the past year and was spending a further £60m on maintaining and improving the county's roads, alongside £16m from the government's Local Transport Grant. Speaking to the BBC, Ms Leigh said: "When you're walking around as a pedestrian, potholes are incredibly dangerous. "You can fall down, you can twist your ankle, and you can really hurt yourself and your pride. On some occasions, she says her guide dog had been soaked by vehicles that had driven through water-filled potholes."I get absolutely covered from head to toe in water, me and my dog, and the dog gets really stressed," she said."My previous dog was so stressed about cars going past when it was raining that she used to try and hide behind me, and that's rubbish for a guide dog - a guide dog that just hides behind you."She claimed that hitting a pothole on Avenue Road in Shelton when she was a passenger in a car made her go into labour with her daughter."There was a massive pothole, and my ex-husband just hit it," she said."And I just felt something, and my waters went, and that was it. I just felt it go."Ms Leigh said the council filled in some potholes, "but within two months there's just another one, ten yards up the road". 'Sealing the cracks' The BBC spoke to county council candidates about their thoughts on potholes and road maintenance in the Democrat candidate Alec Sandiford said: "The one thing I would do is argue to bring services more in-house to the council."Labour candidate Aaron Thurstance said: "When we are resurfacing roads, we need to make sure there's the correct treatment sealing the cracks, and then that will give us more life and also give better value for the taxpayer because they're cheaper than filling in the pothole itself." Conservative candidate Jeremy Lefroy believes there is more to do to keep the county moving, saying: "I think the council is doing what it can at the moment, but more needs to be done. "And I think everybody would say that's a priority; we have to put more resources into tackling the state of the roads."Green Party candidate Jack Rose said: "We want to change it to a much more strategic approach, so if they're closing down a section of the road, say 100m, they're doing all the potholes in that area, resurfacing it properly, raising the ironworks, and then moving on to the next location."Reform UK candidate Sean Bagguely recently missed a flight after driving over a pothole on the way to the airport."We see many potholes that get repaired in theory only to reappear in a few weeks time because they aren't done properly," he said. 'Drainage issues' Staffordshire County Council's director for economy, infrastructure and skills, Darryl Eyers, said the council's highways crews had made "a concerted effort" to deal with road defects, fixing more than 36,000 potholes in the last added: "As poor drainage can often cause road defects, we've stepped up our drainage cleaning programme and last year cleaned nearly 72,000 gulleys. "We're also looking at targeted enforcement of landowners with drainage issues affecting the highway."Mr Eyers also said the council was undertaking 20 road reconstruction schemes across the county this year and more than 450 preventative road maintenance schemes on roads, to prolong their life by around 10 to 15 years and help prevent potholes from forming. "Good roads are important to everyone, and our crews are doing what they can to fix more roads, deal with drainage issues, and ensure we keep the county moving," he said. Follow BBC Stoke & Staffordshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
