Rochdale Council faces huge road repair bill of £58million

Rochdale Council faces huge road repair bill

Rochdale Council is facing a huge bill of £58million to complete a backlog of road repairs, one of the highest in England.

According to an FOI response reported by the BBC, a number of councils face huge bills, with Leeds needing to spend up to £100M and neighbouring Oldham facing a bill of £60M.

In April 2013, the Asphalt Industry Alliance suggested a one-off investment of £12bn is needed in England to deal with the backlog in road maintenance, up from £10.5bn in 2013

Mark Widdup, Rochdale Council Director of Economy and Environment, said: “The £58million is to undertake a wide variety of work that would return all the roads in the borough to a pristine, as-new highway.

"As of 30 November 2014, there were just 53 outstanding pothole repairs to be made, having already repaired almost 14,000 since 1 January 2014

"We have also invested a further £10million to undertake major improvements to the boroughs roads between April 2013 and March 2015.”

A Department for Transport spokesman said: "Good local roads are vital for our transport network and it is for local councils to maintain them properly.

"As part of our long-term economic plan we will also spend a further £6bn between 2015 to 2021 providing councils with the certainty they require to plan how they will keep their roads well maintained."