Luton Council aims to tackle town's potholes

Maintaining the quality of Luton’s road network is a priority for the council and it is investing around £3 million in 2017/18 on roads maintenance and much of this investment goes towards a programme of resurfacing which takes place from April to October.

Money is also spent on preventative works which treats the surface of the carriageway, to prevent potholes from forming in the first place. This programme will be advertised in March.

The council also has an emergency rapid response crew that repairs potholes that have been reported which are over 50mm deep within 24 hours.

Inspectors also assess if it would be more cost effective to repair a stretch of road rather than repeatedly repair individual potholes.

The council also aims to repair damaged pavements greater than 20mm within 24 hours of assessment, street lights within five working days, blocked drains that result in flooding 24 hours, non urgent within 28 days and traffic signal faults two hours.

Councillor Paul Castleman, portfolio holder for highways, said: “Road users in Luton may have noticed more potholes on the highways network recently.

“This is a result of snow and ice which causes damage to the road surface as water gets into the small cracks.

“As the temperature drops the water freezes, and when the temperature rises again it thaws. This process causes cracks to widen, eventually leading to potholes caused by passing vehicles.”

Members of the public can report potholes online at www.luton.gov.uk/reportit.