A resident has raised concerns over the safety of Milton Keynes’s roads but the council insists while it is a priority, maintaining them can be challenging.

Alejandro Vlasich has been living in Milton Keynes with his family since 2021. Although he loves the city’s nature, residential areas and the high quality of life that the location offers, he says that unfortunately he can’t say the same about the city council’s services.

And especially the poor maintenance of roads and streets.

Alejandro said: “I have reported to the council, several times, the disastrous condition of several roads and streets in the area of Kents Hill, Walnut Tree, Tinkers Bridge, etc. It was not just me who reported this disastrous maintenance, but dozens of other neighbours.

Concerns are raised about the safety of Milton Keynes’s roads and streets, as a local resident complains that the council is not taking action.

placeholder image — Concerns are raised about the safety of Milton Keynes’s roads and streets, as a local resident complains that the council is not taking action.

“But, the answer from the Council is always the same: the defects reported are, for them, “low risk”, so they will take no action at all. If you take a look at the map of reported potholes in the city, you can see there is a patchwork of hundreds of red dots.”

In response, MK City Council insist keeping the roads network safe and resilient is a ‘year-round’ priority but comes with challenges.

A council spokesman said: “We have a large highway network to look after including over 1,550km of road which is growing all the time as more areas are adopted by the council.

“Keeping this network safe and resilient is a year‑round priority for us and like all local authorities, we face ongoing challenges from severe weather, higher volumes of traffic and rising maintenance costs, but we continue to invest in regular inspections, preventative works and targeted repairs where they are most needed.”

Milton Keynes was rated Amber in a recent Department for Transport national audit for all highways authorities which measures how well councils maintain roads, rating each location as Red, Amber or Green.

Milton Keynes City Council added: “We welcome reports from residents, which help us prioritise issues quickly, and we are committed to improving road conditions while making best use of the funding available."

Alejandro believes that the council could put funds to better use.

He added: “They spend hundreds of thousands doing unnecessary changes to some roundabouts, complicating the transit for weeks or even months, but they do not attend what is really needed urgently.”