Twenty five specialist pothole teams are being deployed by Somerset County Council to tackle potholes after the end of the big freeze.
One effect of the icy weather is to raise the surface of the road slightly and when the freeze ends, the road’s foundations return to their original level, but the tarmac can develop cracks and turn into potholes.
Somerset County Council will be carrying out its regular road inspections, but is also calling upon members of the public to report new potholes. This can be done by ringing 0845 345 9155.
Councillor Anthony Trollope-Bellew, Somerset County Council’s Cabinet Member for the Environment, told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “The cold spell put great strain on our gritting teams, and now the warmer weather will see us shift our efforts to repairing potholes. We’re doing our utmost to make sure that our roads are safe and urge the public to help us with this by reporting any potholes that have developed as a result of the cold weather.”
Every pothole that is reported is inspected by the Council to establish how severe it is. Repairs are then scheduled according to the type of road and the size of the pothole. This means that the most dangerous potholes and those on main roads will be fixed as a priority.
During the last bout of cold weather in December, 737 potholes were identified that needed repair. A further 217 potholes that also needed fixing were reported by members of the public across Somerset.
Pictured above is a pot hole in Adam Street in Burnham-On-Sea last year
