Council chiefs accept £4.2m of additional funding towards highways maintenance and pothole repairs in Derbyshire

Derbyshire County Council formally approved acceptance of the funding from the Department for Transport at a cabinet meeting on Monday, July 10, for highways maintenance and pothole repairs for 2023 and 2024 in the county.

County Councillor Charlotte Cupit, cabinet member for Highways Assets and Transport, who welcomed the funding, said: “While we welcome that, there is always more we need to spend on highways and we would always encourage further funding.”

The Department for Transport announced in March an additional £200m nationally to spend on local roads in addition to the previously announced national, local highways maintenance funding of £2.7bn between 2022 and 2025.

Derbyshire has subsequently been awarded at least an additional £4.2m for 2023-24 with the final amount to be confirmed as soon as grant conditions are received.

The Department for Transport stated that it is up to the county council how to spend this additional funding in order to fulfil their statutory duty based on local knowledge, circumstances and priorities.

Work is currently underway by the council to identify locations where this funding can be targeted to improve the highways network for highway users.

Derbyshire County Council has previously stated that over the next year, it will be carrying out major improvements to the county’s roads and pavements as part of our ambitious three-year, £120 million investment programme.

During the recent cabinet meeting, the council also formally accepted a £277,502 annual Air Quality funding grant from the Government’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to improve air quality in the county by developing its traffic management based on emissions.

This funding should help to improve air quality assessments relating to vehicular emissions, according to the council, allowing it to report on poor air quality and advising rerouting of traffic by suggesting the use of alternative routes.

It will also help to provide more reliable bus services with plans to improve the efficiency of the network by coordinating with a Traffic Management System and Traffic Light Priority System for buses.

Derbyshire County Council has stated the potential to reduce congestion and the subsequent improvements in air quality will also benefit and encourage more active forms of travel making walking and cycling more attractive which should lead to additional health benefits.

A council spokesman stated: “The delivery of highway improvements to provide well managed roads and the priority to reduce greenhouse emissions as part of the Climate Change Strategy are specific headline initiatives within the Council Plan 2021-2025.”

Derbyshire County Council has previously announced that its annual maintenance programme for dual carriageways in Derbyshire was scheduled to get underway this July.

Work is expected to include road repairs, emptying drains, cutting verges with relevant area district and borough councils helping to clear litter.

The county council warned some roads will need to be temporarily closed while work is carried out usually at weekends and at out-of-peak times and it has offered apologies for any inconvenience.