Cambridgeshire County Council says over £59m will be spent on highways projects this year – but none of the cash is earmarked for H&I.
The Council has set out how it plans to spend the money, and has released details of 57 road repairs that will be prioritised for major works in 2025/26. However, the 10 listed for South Cambridgeshire doesn’t include any forthcoming projects for the village.
Dodging the potholes
Impington resident James Wiltshire recently shared a post on social media about the size of the potholes he navigates with his two sons on their cycle rides to and from Park Primary School. Their route takes them along Cambridge Road to Station Road and then either up the High Street to Narrow Lane or they go on the main road and along Glebe Way.
However, he told HI HUB: “When I cycle with my two boys, I often feel an increasing sense of fear for their safety. Their smaller size, less developed cycling skills, and limited reaction time make it challenging to navigate the numerous potholes.
“We constantly find ourselves swerving and weaving to avoid them, which increases the risk of one of my boys either hitting a pothole and falling or, worse, swerving into the path of a vehicle – particularly on busy roads like Glebe Way.
“What concerns me even more is the growing number of potholes and the lack of consistent repairs. When repairs are carried out, they often seem like quick fixes, and the problem inevitably resurfaces in no time.”
James said one at Vision Park was addressed after help from H&I County Councillor Ros Hathorn. Another at The Coppice was logged on an online reporting system but the case was closed and the repairs were not carried out.
A £1bn problem
When the Council’s highways and transport committee last met on 4 March, Councillor Neil Shailer said the authority was putting funding towards proactive preventative work to try and stop potholes before they form.
Over £28.7m is due to be spent on carriageway structural and preventative work, with a further £7.2m due to be spent on structural and preventative work on pathways and cycleways. While the investment seems significant, Ros explains it is needed after years of Governments cutting back funding to local councils. She says road repairs are an estimated £1bn problem for the county – the equivalent of the Council’s entire annual budget.
On a more positive note, she says if the Council continues in its current direction there will be noticeable improvements to the roads in five years. “To be where we need to be” could take between a decade and 15 years. The highways team has also been restructured to focus on maintenance and ensuring quality repair works have been carried out.
A new “Report a Fault” app will be launched later this year, replacing a dated system that was commissioned more than 25 years ago in 1998. “I have hopes the new system will be groundbreakingly more efficient,” Ros says. Users who report a road fault through the app will be kept updated through the process of its repair.
Back to Histon and Impington
Ros also explained many areas across the county need capital repair works carried out – this is expensive long-term, planned and high value work. She said councillors rejected last year’s list of repairs because “there was no strategy, logic or prioritisation”.
She said: “This year there is a strategy and a clear ranking process. That is irritating if jobs in your area aren’t chosen but at least there is an underlying fair and rational approach. It also means that work is fixed in leaps and bounds. When the work arrives it can make a big difference but it can take years for it to be your turn.”
While H&I may need to wait for its turn to come around, she said in the meantime the Vision Park raised table has been fixed and she “has been promised” the one at The Coppice will be addressed. Ros also has confirmation the tarmacked over gully by the raised table at Impington Lane will be repaired and a road closure has been ordered for the top of Station Road to investigate drainage issues.
Additional reporting by Hannah Brown, from the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
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