Rochdale backs £12m road repairs budget
Rochdale Council is to release a £12m fund to help repair roads and footpaths across the borough over the next three years.
The proposals, due to be discussed by the council’s cabinet at a meeting on 28 February, will support repair works to more than 350 roads and 100 footpaths between 2018 and 2021.
Rochdale Council said it is also planning to bar utility companies, including gas, water, and electric operators from digging up newly-repaired roads “unless they are carrying out emergency work”.
The £12m package, part of the Council’s annual budget, is on top of the £5.3m it has budgeted for repairs to roads and bridges across the area in the 12 months to April this year.
The council will also spend £800,000 this year on flood prevention measures across the borough.
Subject to approval at next week’s meeting, the repairs programme is scheduled to being in the summer.
Cllr Allen Brett, leader of Rochdale Council, said: “We know that bread and butter issues, like the state of the roads, are really important to our residents. That’s why we’ve taken this step to enable us to drive through these massive improvements to our roads and footpaths.
“The full council will vote on whether to approve this spend next week, and, if they agree, our highways team will start creating a hit list of roads and footpaths we would like to target, using information from network condition surveys and site visits, among other things.
“These lists will be put together with support from councillors across all the different wards, who know their areas very well and are in regular contact with our many residents who use the roads and footpaths on a daily basis.”
The council is also due to sign off a £432,000 package of works to safeguard Ashworth Road against future damage, after an embankment below the road collapsed last year.
Repairs are due to begin in April and last for approximately 25 weeks, during which time the road will remain closed.. The council’s funding will help to support the installation of pre-cast concrete blocks, along with a drainage system, to give the road an 120-year protection against further damage.
