We know just how important roads, and specifically their condition, are to the people of Hampshire and we’re working hard to make them stronger – having invested extra funding so that we can make even more improvements to the 5,500 miles of roads that the County Council is responsible for.

The additional £22.5m investment over two years, on top of the £89m we typically spend annually to maintain the roads has so far enabled extra crews, equipment and materials to be brought in to repair even more road defects, like potholes, more quickly, as well as improve the surface quality of many more miles of road.

Latest data shows that between April and June this year, we’ve made good progress - having improved the surface of 345,655 square metres of road and repaired 18,505 road defects. And, with the autumn and winter weather in mind, 43,479 drains and gullies have also been cleared and cleaned, ready to cope with heavy rainfall. We’ll soon be starting our winter maintenance season (from 1 October) and, as with previous years, our highways crews will be ready day and night to spread salt on the main routes when freezing road surface temperatures are forecast, in order to keep Hampshire moving.

We know that work to make improvements to the roads can sometimes be inconvenient to road users, so we appreciate people’s patience as we keep up the momentum on this vital work.

We also wish to thank everyone who has reported road defects to us - such as potholes and other issues affecting the condition of the county’s roads. Please continue to do so, because when you report a road issue to us, it means we can act more quickly to fix the problem and make our roads stronger.

You can do this via the OurHants app (which can be downloaded from the Apple or Google play store) or online via the County Council’s website.

Cllr Lulu Bowerman,

Executive Member for Highways and Waste,

Hampshire County Council,

The Castle,

Winchester

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