50 potholes are being repaired every working day in Milton Keynes, council announces

Around 50 potholes a day are being filled and repaired on crumbling city roads, the council has announced.

Over the past year, local people have reported a staggering 6,000 potholes and road issues and MK City Council has fixed 15,000 of them.

Now there is money in the budget – £3.5m to be precise – to do even more repairs this year.

The council made the announcement on social media today but it has led to some people questioning whether the pothole repairs are actually working.

One motorist said: “Patching the same pothole over and over again is not the solution though. Whilst appreciated, most of us would prefer a road full of potholes to be actually re-laid.”

He added: “The patching often comes out shortly after and I've also seen many patches appear to melt off to the side.”

In April 2018, the Labour-led council invested in hiring a new turbo spray injecting machine that filled clusters of potholes in one go, instead of one at a time. This was a much quicker and more cost effective solution to the problem, they said.

But opposition Tory councillors immediately claimed the new machine was not all it was cracked up to be, after members of the public complained the quality of repair was ‘patchy’ and may not last.

Four years later, in 2021, the Tories called for a review all repairs carried out using Spray Injection Patching machines, claiming some were “slapdash’ and ineffective.

A pothole appears when the road surface has been worn away and a hollow appears. Water seeps into small cracks in the surface and over time this can worsen. Water pressure and vehicle movements can cause a pothole to increase in size very quickly and during the winter months, surface water freezes and expands then thaws repeatedly in the road surface - helping to make any gaps bigger.

As traffic moves over the weakened area it causes more material to become loose and eventually a pothole is created.

A council spokesperson said: “We investigate all potholes reported to us and our highways inspectors check the road network throughout the week. For major routes and roads, we also carry out monthly safety inspections.

“Repairs are planned based on several factors. We look at the pothole and assess if it is a safety issue that needs to be repaired quickly or whether it can be added to a programme of works planned for a later date which may include a larger section of resurfacing rather than a minor repair.

“We use this way of assessing potholes to ensure that those considered 'safety critical' are dealt with quickly. This may involve doing a temporary repair to make it safe and we'll return to do a more permanent repair later on.”

You can read how the council repairs road surfaces and potholes here.

Meanwhile any problems on city roads and footways can be reported here or by calling 01908 252353.

You can watch a pothole being repaired in Milton Keynes on the council’s YouTube channel here.