Derbyshire County Council set to agree £70m investment into county roads

Cabinet members at Derbyshire County Council are to be asked to agree a major programme of work to improve the county’s roads at a meeting next week.

The cabinet meeting on Thursday 13th November will consider a report which sets out a multi-million package, likely to be around £70m, to improve roads, pavements, traffic signals, landslips, and much more.

The final figure of the programme is yet to be set, as the county will probably not receive confirmation of the money from the Government until April. The money will now come from the Government through EMCCA (East Midlands Combined County Authority). Cabinet members are being asked to approve around £48m of work so that officers can get on with designing and planning the work in. 

The report also asks for agreement to increase the frequency of road treatment survey inspections made on rural and residential roads, from one in five years, to one in two years. This will help make sure the council has more accurate information about the condition of these roads. These surveys are in addition to the council’s routine safety inspections.  

Another new initiative is the introduction of ‘fence to fence’ working on the larger projects the council carries out. This means that when a road is closed for resurfacing other teams take the opportunity to carry out drainage or safety work, making the most of the closure and reducing inconvenience for local residents. 

Local councillors are also to be given a say in which residential streets are resurfaced. All councillors have been asked to suggest two streets most in need of attention from their area. A £3m pot will pay for those most in need.

Derbyshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Potholes, Highways and Transport, Councillor Charlotte Hill, said: “I am pleased to be able to present this report to my fellow cabinet members.

“The changes to the way highways work, by introducing fence to fence working and more permanent repairs, will mean that we can reduce potholes and improve the quality and safety of our roads. 

“Although we don’t know the exact sum of money, we will be awarded we believe that it will be similar to what we have been awarded this year, the lack of communication on funding is frustrating as it does not allow for long term forward planning to take place, if uncertainties of funding remain. However, we are getting ourselves organised so that we can deliver a programme of work that will truly make a difference.

“Almost 80% of the roads that we will improve next year are residential roads. This is a change from previous programmes,  and I am sure this will be welcomed by our residents.”

A fully costed programme for roads, pavements, drainage, street lighting, safety schemes and public transport schemes for just over £41m is set to be agreed. A further £7m is to be spent fixing five landslips. Officers will now work on further programmes to spend the anticipated £22m.”

• Breakdown of the £41m programme, by work stream
• Roads miscellaneous maintenance: £9,300,000
• Road resurfacing: £7,377,297
• Roads asphalt rejuvenation: £324,336
• Roads surface dressing: £4,669,398
• Roads micro-asphalt: £3,281,413
• Pavements misc maintenance: £704,175
• Pavements maintenance: £2,107,780
• Public Rights of way maintenance: £312,000
• Drainage and flood management: £2,570,000
• Bridges, structures, retaining walls and highway boundary structures: £2,627,500
• Traffic Management & Road Safety: £1,615,550
• Street lighting and traffic signals: £2,359,500
• Cycle routes: £406,000
• Air Quality Projects: £100,000
• Public Transport Improvements: £1,360,350
• Programme Contingency (5% top slice of total allocation): £2,058,700

Total Programme Value: £41,174,000
 
A further £7,000,000 will be spent on a landslip programme in North Derbyshire and the Peak District.