County roads 'much worse' as pothole repairs soar

Lincolnshire's roads are in a "much worse" condition than usual for this time of year, a highways official has said.

Jonathan Evans, of Lincolnshire County Council's highways team, put it down to "freezing conditions combined with intermittent rain", which have "hit the roads hard".

He said 5,400 potholes needed repairing in January, compared with 3,200 in 2025.

Evans added the council had brought in an additional 21 maintenance teams to help keep up with demand for repairs.

According to Evans, the fault reports received by the council's customer service centre and through the FixMyStreet tool had been "extremely high" through January and the first two weeks of February.

"We're currently in a tough period in terms of road network condition," he said.

Despite a higher number than this time last year, Evans said their highest number of pothole repairs was in February 2021, with 6,078 needed.

"It is much worse than it typically is, however not the worst on record," he added.

Evans said the county's pothole-fixing machine, which is currently being trialled, was "progressing well".

The Pothole Pro cuts out sections of road around potholes for neater repairs, with manufacturer JCB claiming it works up to four times quicker than traditional methods.

"We intend to continue to test its performance and will report back as soon as the trial period is complete," Evans said.

The council also has a programme of works planned for 2026 and 2027, and hopes to spend £118m on highway maintenance, if approved at a full council meeting on 20 February.

In 2025, £107m was spent on the county's roads.

Evans added: "We are doing everything we can with the constraints that we've got."

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