£75m needed for Derby roads

Fears heavy traffic in Derby Road, Spondon will worsen if up to 200 homes are built nearby. Image by LDRS.

A total of £75 million is needed to bring all of Derby’s roads to an “acceptable standard”, a city highways boss has said.

The eight-figure sum was revealed at a Derby City Council meeting on Tuesday (July 28th), which centred on the condition of the area’s roads.

Council documents state the authority fixed more than 1,200 road defects within 14 days or 28 days between January and February this year.

And a Freedom of Information request (FOI) revealed the council had paid out more than £24,700 in claims for vehicle damage caused by potholes within the last four years.

A recent case saw a Porsche driver win more than £4,400 in compensation after their car was damaged by a pothole on Chequers Road.

Details of the incident came to light after a Derby highways report showed the local authority was behind some of its targets to repair roads, including those with potholes, during the winter.

It showed road pothole damage repaired within 28 days was at 32 per cent – significantly below a monthly target of 80 per cent.

But it also showed 99 per cent of emergency defects were fixed by the council within 36 hours.

The council has insisted that Derby’s roads “remain safe” despite the missed pothole targets.

David Kinsey, head of network and asset management at Derby City Council, told a regeneration, vibrancy and climate change scrutiny meeting that he agreed more money was needed to get all of the city’s roads in an “acceptable” condition.

This is despite the council getting an increase in year-on-year funding from the Government.

He said: “The level of need still far exceeds the level of funding that we are getting.

“I’ve not got the latest figures, but to bring all of Derby’s carriageway footway network to an acceptable standard – not talking ‘first class’ standard – it would cost around £75m.

“If someone waved a magic wand and we got the £75m, to keep it in that condition we would then need £10m a year.”

Other local authorities are in a similar situation in terms of needing more funding, another council officer added.

However, Chellaston councillor Phil Ingall, who chaired the meeting, said he believed Derby’s roads were “not bad”.

He said: “I went to Tissington on Sunday and I found that when you tend to leave the city the roads deteriorate quite quickly. I don’t think necessarily our roads are that bad, speaking from my own experience.

“But I do think our pavements are a lot worse.”

When asked about the condition of Derby’s roads, a city council spokesperson released this statement last month: “Derby’s roads remain safe, with 99 per cent of emergency defects being responded to within the one hour and 36-hour thresholds.

“We carry out regular routine inspections and any defects identified as requiring immediate attention are made safe as a priority.”