Kent extends ‘find and fix’ campaign, fills 100,000 potholes

12 July 2010

Kent County Council’s intensive ‘find and fix’ pothole campaign is being extended into early autumn after Cabinet members agreed today (Monday 12 July) to invest a further £1.5 million into the radical road-repair scheme.

Under ‘find and fix’ an army of specialist tarmac contractors are repairing every fault they encounter on the county’s minor and rural roads that make up 71% of Kent’s 5,000-mile network.

The total estimated cost of the campaign is £6.5 million, including £2.4 million Kent County Council received in the 2010 March government budget to help with road repairs following the worst winter for nearly 30 years.

Kent Highway Services’ own crews are fixing potholes on the county’s main network of A and B routes.

Over the first six months of the year, Kent Highway Services and the specialist tarmac firms have fixed 100,000 potholes – double the total number repaired in the first half of last year.

Kent County Council Cabinet Member for Environment, Highways and Waste Nick Chard said:

“The ‘find and fix’ approach is very different to the way we operated in previous years. In the past, only defects that were safety-related would have been repaired. Now, crews are fixing every single fault in a road and as a result carrying out around six times the amount of work than we would have done previously.

“The roads are being repaired giving priority to village through-routes and school runs and on a worst-first basis. We know this is an important issue for residents and businesses across the county and the response we have had back so far is very positive. Since mid-June our own road crews that look after the main road network have also adopted a ‘find and fix’ approach.

“This takes time, of course. We estimate it will take until early-autumn to repair the entire minor road network, so we are asking residents to bear with us. We are dedicated to getting round all our roads and some cases it will be later, rather than sooner, so please be patient.”

In order to protect the biggest investment in Kent’s road maintenance for many years, Kent Highway Services will increase its surface dressing programme, which seals the surface, preventing water seeping into the road and causing damage, and restores a road’s skid resistance. Roads are ‘dressed’ by spraying them with hot bitumen before chippings are applied and rolled in.

Nick Chard added:

“This will ensure that the significant investment made through the ‘find and fix’ programme is protected over the coming years.”

For a full list of roads being repaired under the ‘find and fix’ scheme, please visit the webpage.