Repairing the roads - and going green too

More than 12,000 potholes were filled across Bury this last financial year – and a further 12,000 will be tackled in the coming 12 months.

The council is about to invest a further £10 million into the borough’s highways, taking the total to £30 million over nine years.

Latest figures also reveal that, under the previous phase of the highways strategy, around 112,000 sq m of surface dressing was put down on 91 streets, and 45 roads were resurfaced. In the pipeline for the coming year is a further 115,000 sq m of surface dressing on 82 streets, and 70,000 sq m of resurfacing on 15 streets.

Around 5,000 sq m of patching was completed in 21/22, and any backlog caused by Covid delays will be reprogrammed over 22/23 and 23/24.

Councillor Eamonn O’Brien, leader of the council, said: “Everyone uses the roads, and the condition of our highways is understandably of great interest to residents across the borough.

“That’s why we have been investing heavily into Bury’s 660km of highway network, despite receiving woefully inadequate government grants to support this during the last 12 years.”

He added: “I’d also like to thank our Streetscene staff, who helped to ensure that bin collections continued throughout the Covid pandemic – and even helped establish some of the Covid testing and vaccination sites in the borough.”

Going for green - vehicle replacement and bio diesel trial

The council is spending £10 million over a three-year period to replace 91 vehicles and reduce CO2 emissions, in line with its climate action strategy.

Some 30 new vehicles across council services have arrived this year, including 19 new waste and recycling vehicles, three pavement sweepers and minibuses for children’s and adult services, with more due to be rolled out over the coming months following a delay from suppliers.

In the coming weeks, a bio diesel tank will be installed at Bradley Fold to trial bio diesel in a waste and recycling vehicle. If successful, this could be rolled out across the transport fleet which would reduce our CO2 emissions in Bury by 90%.

Over the coming months, 16 EV charging points will be installed.

In 2022 the council will receive three more large road sweepers, vehicles for highways and street lighting, gully wagons, ground maintenance vehicles and a further three waste and recycling vehicles.

Gully Cleansing

Thanks to additional funding, a third gully wagon cleansing team was created which has helped teams respond to reports of blockages before waiting for the next scheduled visit.

During the recent storms, 20 localised minor floods were rapidly addressed by the gulley team on emergency callout.

Two replacement combined gully/jetting wagons are due to be delivered in May.

Councillor Alan Quinn, cabinet member for the environment, climate change and operations, said: “The council has declared a climate emergency, so it’s important that we take the lead in reducing our carbon emissions by using cleaner vehicles and encouraging others to do the same.

“Climate change, like the state of the roads, is something that affects us all, and we must do all we can to create a greener world for future generations.”

• To report a pothole, or problems with any aspect of the highways, go to the council’s website: https://www.bury.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=11269