Borough roads named among best as £3m funding welcomed

Figures published by the Department for Transport shows that only three per cent of A roads and two per cent of B and C roads in Wigan borough are in need of repair.

Earlier this year the leader of Wigan Council announced an extra £3.3m would be invested into repairing the roads, topping up the £5.1m received in government capital funding.

The council’s cabinet member for environment, Coun Carl Sweeney, said: “More than £8m is due to be spent over the next two years resurfacing and fixing the borough’s roads.

“Our targeted investment programme is essential and will ensure teams continue to manage the condition of our roads and enable the council to deliver an effective and sustainable network to our residents.”

The borough is now joint second across Greater Manchester for the percentage of classified A roads needing repairs and joint top when it comes to B/C classified roads

After listening to residents, the council recognised the importance of ensuring the borough’s roads are fit for the future.

The size of the task facing Wigan Council should not be underestimated with the highway teams currently maintaining around 1,160km of roads and spends around £1m on fixing around 13,000 highway minor defects, including potholes, each year. It also manages 2,000km of footway, 58,000 drainage gullies and 36,500 streetlights.

Coun Sweeney added: “The recently published data shows the strong position that Wigan borough is in among Greater Manchester and the north west when it comes to the state of our roads.

“For classified roads, made up of A, B and C classification roads, the borough is top performing within Greater Manchester for the low percentage of roads that have been assessed as being in need of maintenance soon.

“Despite feeling the effects of the pro-longed wet and cold wintery weather conditions in early 2018, the results highlight the excellent job that the council’s highway teams are doing across the 1,160km of roads they are expected to maintain.”

The next upcoming schemes to be undertaken in November and moving into the New Year include:

November:

Central Drive - Shevington

Common Lane - Leigh

Taylor Road/Taylor Grove - Hindley Green

Smethurst Lane - Pemberton

St Marys Way - Leigh

Broadwell Drive - Leigh

Start of 2020:

A49 Wallgate - Wigan

A58 Bolton Road/Lily Lane - Bamfurlong

A571 Wigan Road - Billinge

A573 Warrington Road - Ince

A577 Darlington Street - Wigan

A577 Corner Lane/Smallbrook Lane - Hindley Green

A578 Twist Lane - Leigh

A578 Wigan Road - Leigh

A580 East Lancashire Road (Liverpool Bound) - Golborne

B5238 Scot Lane - Aspull

Heath Street - Golborne

Hall Lane - Hindley

North Road - Atherton

For future reference and more information on the planned programme of work, visit: www.wigan.gov.uk/Resident/Parking-Roads-Travel/Roads/Highway-maintenance