WE know that potholes are a major concern for people in Hampshire and across the country, affecting daily journeys and overall satisfaction with the roads – whether you’re commuting to work, on the school run, waiting for deliveries for your business or enjoying a weekend bike ride along the county’s rural routes – they impact our quality of life and our local economy.

It’s been a year now since we allocated additional money dedicated to make Hampshire’s roads stronger and tackle record numbers of reported potholes – committing an extra £22.5m over two years to boost road repairs.

This significant investment in Hampshire has enabled us to deploy more resources dedicated to fixing potholes promptly. From April 2023 to April 2024, we’ve repaired 180,909 potholes and road defects, representing a huge 37 per cent increase compared to the previous 12 months. We’ve also mended or resurfaced 389km of our roads at 510 locations.

During the summer, the generally drier, warmer weather makes it the ideal time to strengthen our roads, helping to reverse damage caused by winter erosion and deterioration, and our crews are out there making the most of this period to keep filling potholes, smooth road surfaces, and restore our roads – including on larger stretches of the county’s roads.

With unprecedented volumes of potholes being reported to us, Hampshire isn’t alone in facing the challenge of keeping local roads in a good condition. The impact of colder, wetter winters these days takes its toll on the roads and higher costs due to inflation means that every year we must do more within our limited budgets – for example, it now costs the taxpayer around 44 per cent more to repair a pothole.

As the county councillor with responsibility for Hampshire’s highways, delivering stronger roads to keep Hampshire moving is my firm commitment to the county’s residents. Road defects and potholes can be reported to the county council’s highways team online (hants.gov.uk/transport/highways) or by using the OurHants app, downloadable from a phone's app store.

Cllr Lulu Bowerman, 
Executive Member for Highways and Waste

Hampshire County Council,

The Castle,

Winchester

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