Wigan has some of the best roads in the North West, figures reveal

Wigan boasts some of the best roads in the North West and has done for the past decade, Government figures have revealed.
Only three per cent of the classified A roads managed by Wigan Council in 2018/19 are in need of repair and only two per cent of classified B and C roadsOnly three per cent of the classified A roads managed by Wigan Council in 2018/19 are in need of repair and only two per cent of classified B and C roads
Only three per cent of the classified A roads managed by Wigan Council in 2018/19 are in need of repair and only two per cent of classified B and C roads

Statistics recently published by the Department for Transport (DfT) and which may surprise some motorists, rate the percentage of roads in need of repair in each local authority.

Only three per cent of the classified A roads managed by Wigan Council in 2018/19 are in need of repair and only two per cent of classified B and C roads.

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Last year, in 2017/18, the percentage of unclassified roads which had fallen into the “red” category - meaning they need urgent repair work - came to five per cent.

This is drastically lower than the national average of 16 per cent.

Mark Tilley, assistant director for infrastructure at Wigan Council, said: “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.

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“Despite feeling the effects of the prolonged 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.”

Earlier this year the council revealed plans to spend more than £8m on improving the borough’s roads over the next two years.

Wigan Council has already tendered the first phase of its highways schemes for 2019/2020, valued at £1.3m.

The successful contractors, Hopkins and Tarmac, started work several months ago.

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Back in March the council announced that it will invest an additional £3.3m of council funding in repairing the roads, topping up the £5.1m received in government capital funding.

Mr Tilley added: “More than £8m is due to be spent over the next two years re-surfacing and fixing the borough’s roads after the council Leader revealed earlier this year that the council would be pumping an additional £3.3m of extra funding into repairs.

“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 council currently maintains 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 street lights.

The council’s highway maintenance planned programme of work can be viewed at: www.wigan.gov.uk/Resident/Parking-Roads-Travel/Roads/Highway-maintenance