Over 100 roads to be repaired in £21m county plan

More than 100 roads across Lancashire will be resurfaced or will undergo preventative repairs at a planned cost of £21m over the next 12 months.

Lancashire County Council's cabinet has agreed a list of 80 individual schemes, several of which involve more than one route.

The works are separate from day-to-day "reactive" repairs done to fix individual potholes. They will comprise of pre-planned highways maintenance projects that the authority - whose patch excludes Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen - will undertake over the next year.

Meanwhile Blackburn with Darwen Council announced it would spend £15m over the next 12 months to improve road surfaces, footways and street lighting.

The £21m - including £440k for footpath repairs - is allocated for scheduled repairs, with full resurfacing and pre-emptive "surface dressing" – a process that seals carriageways to prevent future damage caused by water entering by cracks.

The repair routes were prioritised in the county council's 15-year roads strategy, focusing on maintaining the main A, B and C-classified routes, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

At least £28m of the overall £72m set aside for highways upkeep is likely to be swallowed up by filling potholes that meet the repair intervention level of being at least 40mm (1.57in) deep.

However, as these cannot be predicted, more funding might need to be allocated at the expense of pre-planned projects, the council said.

Cabinet member for highways and transport, Warren Goldsworthy, of Reform UK, told the cabinet investment was "prioritised using a risk-based, data-driven approach, ensuring funding is targeted where it will have the greatest long-term benefit".

Progressive Lancashire opposition group leader, Azhar Ali, urged the authority to restart meetings stopped by the previous Conservative administration, in which county councillors suggested which local roads needed attention.

The authority recently deployed artificial intelligence (AI)-driven cameras to inspect the 4,600 miles (about 7400km) of highway for which it is responsible.

Listen to the best of BBC Radio Lancashire on Sounds and follow BBC Lancashire on Facebook, X and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.