Three Greater Manchester boroughs are in the top 10 biggest spenders on road maintenance in the past decade, a new study shows.
A survey of 36 UK councils has shown that Stockport, Oldham and Wigan have spent a combined nearly £140 million on general road maintenance since 2011.
The survey by Halfords asked 36 metropolitan and London borough councils how much they had spent on general road maintenance, street lighting, electric vehicle support, drainage, cycle lanes, and green recovery.
Of the 10 Greater Manchester boroughs, Stockport, Oldham and Wigan placed in the top 10, placing fifth, seventh and ninth, respectively.
Stockport Borough Council spent £49,883,000 between 2011 and 2021, Oldham spent £47,961,312.99, and Wigan spent £38,865,709.
In a statement to MM, Emma Barton, Executive Director for Place and Economic Growth of Oldham Council, said: “Improving the condition of our roads has always been a priority for Oldham Council as we know residents feel strongly about them.
“That’s why, even during the Coronavirus Pandemic we continued with our £12m highway maintenance investment programme.
“By the end of the last financial year 2022 we had surfaced and repaired more than 170 roads across Oldham as part of a three-year programme.
“This continued investment shows we want to get the basics right and ensure that our roads are safe and are in a good condition for pedestrians and drivers to use.”
Regarding drainage investment specifically, Stockport Borough Council placed third of all surveyed councils, spending over £6 million.
Stockport Borough Council also placed second highest in green recovery investment, with £73,022,005 on measures like cycle lanes and tree planting.
Speaking to MM, a spokesperson for Wigan Council said: “In addition to preventative maintenance, we have carried out many carriageway and footway resurfacing projects, replaced the borough’s street lights with energy efficient LED’s to reduce the Council’s energy consumption and carbon footprint and carried out significant remediation works on our highway drainage systems following damage from several major storm flooding.
“This combination of works ensures we provide all highway users with a safe network on which to travel through and around the borough and more resilient to the potential impacts of future climate change.”
Meanwhile, Oldham Council was in the top five spenders on streetlights in the past decade, with a whopping £32,537,975.22 to light the borough’s streets.
Sunderland City Council spent the most of all surveyed councils, with nearly £260 million, over £160 million more than second place.
The survey was commissioned in response to the £400 million in cuts to councils last year, the equivalent of fixing or preventing more than 9.5 million potholes.
The study stated that in the next five years, one in five roads in England and Wales will need to be rebuilt, totalling nearly 37,000 miles, so it’s possible figures for the next 10 years could be similar, or even higher.
The survey by Halfords, covering all data, is available here.
