Highways teams take advantage of dry summer

Cheshire East Council’s highways teams have taken full advantage of the long, dry spell to ‘crack on’ with major road repairs around the borough.

Around 40 miles (62.5km) of roadway have been completely resurfaced so far and 7,459 potholes have been repaired.

Councillor Glen Williams, Cheshire East Council deputy cabinet member for environment, said: “Our crews have been working in extremely testing conditions owing to the recent hot weather and I wish to thank them for their professionalism and commitment to the task in hand. This long, dry spell has been helpful but on some days the heat has made working conditions for staff extremely challenging. However, we are still on target to complete the schedule of works planned across the borough this summer.”

Cheshire East Council has now unveiled its highways investment programme for 2018-19.

The council assesses the needs of the highways network, maximising the value of maintenance and improvement works within the funding available, for the benefit of residents and businesses.

The £20m capital programme includes over 70 carriageway improvement schemes scheduled – from minor repairs to total resurfacing works. More than 70 carriageway patching schemes are programmed – plus 16 projects to repair bridges and other structures and 22 road safety improvements, including speed management initiatives.

The 18/19 investment programme will also see the completion of the four-year LED street lighting project, with a further 8,500 street lights scheduled for the switch.

Councillor Williams added: “This is a very comprehensive programme of works, emphasising our full commitment to improving the standard of our road network while, at the same time, introducing important safety measures where required. Where road closures are needed, residents and businesses will always be kept informed and we hope our residents and road users will understand that some inconvenience is unavoidable, when schemes have to be carried out in their area. Our highways role is one of the most important services this council delivers and we are constantly striving to achieve a road network to be proud of.”

The highways investment programme, which is now published on the council’s website, does not include the major road infrastructure schemes, such as Congleton Link Road, Middlewich Eastern Bypass, A500 dualling and the Crewe package of works in Leighton, as these are delivered as part of a separate strategic infrastructure programme.

The council’s highways service is responsible for repairs and management of the borough’s 1,677 miles of roads and 1,100 miles of footways in addition to the maintenance of bridges, street lighting, signage and 372 miles of cycleways. It is the biggest council asset – valued at nearly £6 billion.

The full programme of scheduled works and how it will benefit the roads and footways in your area can be found on the website: