County’s roads set for huge investment

Roads across Derbyshire are set to benefit from a multi-million pound cash boost.

On Tuesday, Derbyshire County Council is expected to approve a £23million investment to bring hundreds of miles of the area’s roads up to scratch.

The cash would be spent over three years from next April and would pay for roads to have their life extended by ten to 15 years by being patched and surface dressed.

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Councillor Dean Collins, the council’s deputy cabinet member for jobs, economy and transport, said: “Over the past few years we have been spending more and more of our increasingly scarce budget on fixing potholes and not enough on maintaining our roads.

“This means that we have many hundreds of miles of roads that have just started to deteriorate and need urgent work to stop their condition getting any worse.

“This major investment looks to improve the condition of those roads and extend their life by ten to 15 years.

“Surface dressing makes a road waterproof – and it’s keeping the water out that will keep the potholes at bay long-term.

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“And surface dressing also helps to improve skid resistance so we’ll be helping to protect against accidents on the roads.

“We’re targeting our resources to achieve the maximum gain over the next 10 years.”

If the funding is approved, the cash will come partly from reserves – £6m – partly from a Government grant – £3.5m – and the rest would be borrowed – £13.5m.