Public encouraged to report potholes

Recent cold and wet weather have given rise to an increasing number of potholes in roads across Hertford and the wider county.

Members of the public are now being asked to report any potholes so they can be added to the county council's repair and maintenance programme.

The council maintain 3,200 miles of roads, carrying out more than 1,500 maintenance and improvement schemes and fixing over 21,000 potholes in an average year.

The key reason why potholes form is repeated fluctuations in road surface temperature. Rain water in the road surface expands by almost 10% when frozen, melts when the temperature rises, then re-freezes and expands again.

Wet weather causes additional problems by washing away the loose surface material.

Cllr Phil Bibby, Executive Member for Highways and Transport, says: "We know the condition of our roads matters to residents, and it matters to us to. I want to reassure people that, while we can't control the cold and wet weather that causes these potholes to form, we are working hard to find, prioritise and fix them. Over recent years the general condition of the county's roads has improved significantly as a result of extra investment in a resurfacing programme targeting local residential roads. However, a cold and wet winter is always going to be a challenge."

The council's Highways team aims to make the most significant potholes safe within 24 hours. The majority of potholes, big enough to need rapid attention, receive a permanent repair within 5 or 20 days, depending on factors like the size of the pothole and how busy the road is. Smaller, less urgent, potholes are repaired as part of planned road resurfacing.