Over 100 Lancashire roads set for repairs in £21m maintenance programme

More than 100 roads across Lancashire are set to be resurfaced or repaired as part of a £21 million highways maintenance programme over the next 12 months.

Lancashire County Council’s cabinet has approved a list of 80 planned schemes, several of which include more than one road.

The work will focus on pre-planned maintenance projects such as full resurfacing and preventative “surface dressing”, which seals the road surface to stop water getting into cracks and causing damage.

The projects are separate from day-to-day repairs carried out to fix individual potholes.

Around £440,000 of the funding will also be used to repair footpaths.

The routes chosen for repair have been prioritised through the council’s 15-year roads strategy, with a focus on maintaining key A, B and C-class roads.

However, the authority says at least £28 million of the wider £72 million highways maintenance budget is likely to be spent filling potholes that meet the repair threshold of 40mm deep.

Because potholes can’t be predicted, the council says more funding could be diverted to reactive repairs if needed.

Warren Goldsworthy, cabinet member for highways and transport, said the investment had been prioritised using a “risk-based, data-driven approach” to ensure funding goes where it will deliver the greatest long-term benefit.

Meanwhile, neighbouring Blackburn with Darwen Council has announced it will spend £15 million over the next year improving road surfaces, footways and street lighting.

Lancashire County Council has also recently introduced AI-powered cameras to inspect the 4,600 miles of highway it is responsible for.