In a move that will see the Royal Borough have some of quickest response times to fixing potholes in Berkshire and other neighbouring counties, Cabinet has approved a new policy to fix all reported potholes over 40mm deep within 24 working hours regardless of category of road.

The new pothole scheme, due to launch on 1 September 2019, forms part of a series of commitments to improve highways across the Royal Borough and will see all reported potholes over 40mm deep on roads and over 25mm deep on footways fixed within 24 hours regardless of which type of road or path it is located on. Currently, only potholes over 40mm deep on high speed or strategic routes or potholes over 25mm in town centre locations have to be fixed within 24 hours.

Cllr Andrew Johnson, lead member for infrastructure, transport policy and housing said:

“Delivering our key commitment of investing more than £50m in our highways and pavements over the next four years, including fixing every reported pothole within 24 working hours and introducing an inspection regime for every road every year is one of our top priorities. 

“We know potholes are an important issue for residents, which is why we have moved to deliver this pledge early and ensure that reports about potholes are fixed as quickly as possible.

“This change to our pothole policy will mean we have some of the quickest response times to potholes in the county and beyond, and demonstrates that we take the safety of all highways users very seriously.”

The new pothole scheme will sit alongside the council’s ‘find and fix’ scheme which has proven successful and allowed the Royal Borough to accelerate works in high footfall areas without affecting our ability to respond to emergency or other routine works. 

Under the new scheme potholes that are over 40mm on roads or 25mm on footpaths will be repaired with 24 working hours. This means potholes that meet this criteria, that are reported after 5pm on a Friday, will be repaired by 9am the following Tuesday.

In addition where there is a clear need for a road to undergo a more time consuming repair, such as resurfacing, the pothole repair will be completed as part of that scheme of work to prevent duplication of work and reduce inconvenience to motorists.

All other potholes (those less than 40mm or 25mm), that do not meet this criteria, will be repaired within the current timeframes depending on their size or location.

You can read more about the new scheme here.