Council pledge to fix potholes in 48 hours

Swansea Council has issued a pothole pledge that will aim to see holes in the road filled within 48 hours of them being reported.

More than 60 potholes have already been fixed via the scheme  which will see thousands more being sorted over the coming months.

The new 48-hour pledge will see spending on road improvements and maintenance increase by well over £1m to more than £5m to help keep traffic moving.

David Hopkins, Cabinet Member for Transportation and Environment, said new repair teams have been set up to get the job done.

The scheme which is being launched to the public this week also offers residents the chance to be updated when the pothole’s been repaired.

Cllr Hopkins said: “The people of Swansea have told us that fixing potholes is really important to them and we’re responding to their expectations. That’s why we’re upping our game and giving residents the chance to get feedback when the job’s done.

“The council fixes around 10,000 road defects and potholes a year. We’ve issued our pledge to encourage people to report potholes and our commitment is to do all we can to fix them within 48 hours.”

He said the new high-visibility pothole repair teams are in addition to the popular PATCH teams and planned road improvements which will be continuing in communities across Swansea as well.

Cllr Hopkins said:  “Potholes happen because of wear and tear on our roads caused by weight of traffic and the weather. It means they are occurring all the time and so filling them in is a never-ending job, but it’s one that our Pothole Repair Teams are determined to get a grip on.

“The teams will have special vans and signs so that passing motorists can see that they are working hard to fix potholes and keep traffic moving.”

Under the new system those who report the defect will have the opportunity to get an update if they share their email address with the council.

Cllr Hopkins said: “Fixing potholes within 48 hours of being reported is a tough challenge and we will do our best to meet that challenge. On some occasions when there’s a lot of rain, snow or there’s a lot of ice about road conditions will mean we may not be able to complete the work within our deadlines. But we’ll always be doing all we can to catch-up afterwards.

He added: “Residents can be assured we’ll do all we can to get the job done as quickly as possible.”

Residents can help by reporting potholes online at www.swansea.gov.uk/potholes

It’ll be important for pothole reporters to be as precise as possible about where the defect is so that when the council team goes out to investigate they’ve got the best chance of finding the pothole.

Those reporting a pothole should include information on nearby landmarks like house numbers and street names.

Some Swansea pothole facts:

• In the week to Monday, July 25 62 potholes were reported to the council and all were fixed within 48 hours.
• In 2015/16, the council fixed 9,997 potholes and other road and pavement defects.
• Last year the Council spent £1m resurfacing roads, £600,000 resurfacing pavements and around £2m on routine repairs like fixing pot holes, drains, slabs and kerb and gritting roads.
• This year we’ll be spending a total in excess of £5m. Establishing the dedicated Pothole Repair Teams is part of where the extra spending will go.
• Our PATCH team visits every ward in Swansea between April and December finding and fixing potholes.
•  The latest Welsh Government independent survey of principal roads across Wales placed Swansea in second place for the best-kept roads in the country.
• To qualify for the 48-hour pledge residents can report potholes online at www.swansea.gov.uk/potholes Pothole requests must relate to roads adopted by the council and for which it is responsible for maintenance.
• Where residents report a number of potholes on a stretch of road, the biggest potholes will be fixed and the road assessed for further resurfacing as part of the on-going roads planned maintenance programme.
• To get a progress report on their pothole report, residents must give the council an email address to send a message to.