Lincolnshire County Council has voted to spend a further £5m of revenue on much needed road maintenance.
The money comes from council areas that have underspent on projected budgetary needs and will now be put into vital roadworks across the county.
This news from the council for the roads network follows a previous council decision earlier this year to backfill a Government roads funding gap of £12m (25% of the total roads maintenance fund).
Lincolnshire County Council voted to fill that 25% gap in funding with a combination of council reserves and an increase in tax.
In real terms, the impact of that earlier decision by Government to cut such a large amount of money has since been increased with the rapid rise of material costs. In some areas of the roads maintenance fund, such as fuel and oil for essential works, costs have risen by up to 135%.
This latest addition of £5m to the roads maintenance money has come about due to a reallocation of underspend funds.
The £5m will go towards essential maintenance across the county’s 5,500-mile-long road network. Recent extreme weather conditions have further exacerbated issues with many rural roads, leading to an increased need for urgent repair work.
Cllr Martin Hill, leader of Lincolnshire County Council, said: “It is welcome news that the council has decided to spend this £5m on the roads of Lincolnshire.
“We are acutely aware of how important the roads network is for the people of Lincolnshire and how essential it is to be able to get around our large, rural county.
“We simply have to have a roads network that is up to standard. It’s our obligation to ensure that residents and businesses alike can use this vital resource as needed.
“Recent extreme weather conditions such as the record-breaking hot weather in our county, following waves of drought conditions over the years, have seen even more of our roads requiring repair measures.
“Whilst we are still very much in need of the Government to re-instate the 25%, £12m cut in our roads maintenance fund, this £5m will go some way towards helping the current situation.
“It is not a fix-all for what we need from Government in order to deliver the roads network that we all expect, but it is a welcome addition to this most critical of needs that we face as a county.”
