Potholes: Peterborough given 'amber' rating for state of roads
Peterborough has been given an ‘amber’ rating for how it deals with potholes on city roads – with the council urging residents to report problems so carriageways can be patched up.
The Government has given every council ratings in four categories – an overall rating, a ‘Condition scorecard,’ a ‘Spend scorecard’ and a ‘Wider best practice scorecard’.
Each category is given either a ‘green’ rating (the top score) an ‘amber’ rating (the middle score) or a ‘red’ rating (the bottom score).
Peterborough was given an ‘amber’ rating in each of the four categories.
The Government said that the ratings are based on data from official statistics and data from the transparency reports that local highway authorities had to publish on their websites.
Local authorities with good local road condition, high adoption of best practice, and that invest significantly into maintaining their roads receive a green rating, while those where performance is more mixed or consistently weaker across these areas receive an amber or red rating.
Councillor Angus Ellis, Peterborough City Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport, said: “Peterborough’s main focus is to try to prevent potholes through appropriate methods such as surface treatments and resurfacing through our annual planned Capital programme of works. However, there will always be some potholes form, especially during the current cold weather. We maintain 930km of roads which is a mammoth task so we would encourage the public to report any potholes they see to us as soon as possible so that we can make the road surface safe.
“The best way to report potholes and other highway defects to the Council is using our online reporting tool: https://report.peterborough.gov.uk/”
“The Department for Transport assessment of highway maintenance within Peterborough encompasses more than just potholes. It is an assessment of highway maintenance in general and includes the work we do to prevent potholes.
"The Government has introduced a new method of assessment this year that was only detailed to us when the results were produced. Peterborough, along with most authorities in England, have been rated as amber. We are now assessing the results in full to help us to progress towards our ambition of a green rating over the coming years.”