A report by the press association today has revealed some startling figures about the rate of road repairs in England, with some particularly shocking stats for Sheffield. So, I’m measuring Sheffield city centre potholes with this can of Dandelion & Burdock while talking about road repairs statistics. Join me on a bumpy walk through Sheffield.
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00:00 Today a report by the Press Association has revealed some startling figures about the rate of road repairs in England with some particularly shocking stats for Sheffield.
00:08 So I'm measuring city centre potholes with this can of dandelion and burdock while talking about road repairs.
00:14 The PA claims there has been a 45% drop off in highways maintenance in England in the year up to March 2023 compared to 5 years beforehand.
00:22 In real terms this was 3,366 fewer miles receiving any kind of improvement work nationwide.
00:29 In Sheffield, Department of Transport figures show 20 miles of roads have been done in the year to March 2023.
00:36 A staggering decline from 165.7 miles 5 years ago or a whole 88% less.
00:43 As well as this, just 2 of those miles were on 'main' or 'A' roads you might call them.
00:49 In October the government announced it would provide £8.3 billion extra funding over 11 years to fix potholes in England using money saved by scrapping the planned extension of HS2 North in Birmingham.
01:00 The DFT says local authorities were receiving the biggest increase in funding for local road improvements as a result of this.
01:08 But RSC Head of Policy Simon Williams warned that this isn't nearly enough for a long term fix.
01:15 If only could have got me and my can onto the M1 near Sheffield last week when a pothole closed three lanes and needed emergency repairs.
01:23 The can probably would have been more shaken up than this one though.
01:28 [Street noise]