Lib Dems reveal the £0.75 BILLION bill to fix Surrey's roads and footways
Liberal Democrat county councillors in Surrey have revealed that it would take over three quarters of a billion pounds to repair the county's roads and footways to an "as new" standard. At the current rate of spending, it would take the Conservative-run County Council almost 50 years to complete this work. The information was revealed following questioning from Liberal Democrat county councillors this week.
Cllr Stephen Cooksey, Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Highways, said today:
"The fact that Surrey's roads and footways are in such a dreadful condition is not news to our residents who have to drive over many potholes every day. That £754 million of spending is needed to bring them up to a decent standard is quite shocking, and only highlights the inadequacy of the County Council's recently announced £5m of additional funding for road repairs, which is a drop in the ocean.
"The County Council needs to set out a far more ambitious plan to improve our roads and footways after decades of neglect and underfunding by the Conservative administration at County Hall. The "Fill My Hole" website run by Cycling UK rated Surrey as the worst for potholes in the UK with 6,712 current "hazards" not marked as "fixed" on its roads, whilst a recent Freedom of Information request revealed that in 2017 the County Council paid out a total of £459,552 in compensation in respect of 265 successful claims.
"The County Council could do more to prioritise funding for improving the condition of roads and footways. It is currently spending millions of pounds purchasing commercial property outside the county, which could be used for resurfacing roads here in Surrey. This investment in resurfacing would save money on costly future repairs.
"I am calling for the County Council to adopt a more proactive approach and to invest now so as to save money on costly repairs and compensation later, and in doing so ensuring that we have a road network in Surrey of which our residents can be proud".
NOTES
Cllr Cooksey's question to Council and the answer received can be found here (page 11):
The recent Freedom of Information Act request and answer can be found here:
https://surreylibdems.org.uk/en/document/road-damage-foi#document