Mystery signs county to spend £10m on road repairs

The first mystery pothole sign compared Daventry to the Grand Canyon

An extra £10m will be spent on mending roads in the county where mysterious anti-pothole signs appeared earlier this year.

West Northamptonshire Council has agreed to spend the money from its capital budget on resurfacing, bridge repairs and drainage improvements.

A new technique that involves reusing the old road surface will be tried out.

Phil Larratt, the authority's cabinet member for highways and transport, said the council wanted to show it was doing everything it could to maintain and improve roads.

The Conservative-led council made national headlines in April when signs started appearing around Daventry protesting against the potholes.

The council removed the signs, but more of them appeared on roundabouts, fences and grass verges.

Since then, some potholes in the area have been repaired but many more remain.

When the authority removed the signs, others appeared

The council has now approved the use of £10m from the capital budget to allow Kier, its road repair contractor, to carry out a surface dressing programme for roads and paths.

The council said money would also pay for "bridge maintenance schemes and work to resolve drainage issues across the area".

It added that it would trial a new road surfacing technique called in-situ recycling, which "produces a long-lasting repair and reuses existing material to reduce costs and carbon emissions".

Phil Larratt said residents would be kept informed about the progress of the work

Mr Larratt said: “We understand that the state of our roads is extremely important to residents and we’re keen to make sure we’re doing everything we can to maintain and improve them.

“This additional investment will allow us to carry out even more much needed resurfacing and repair works and explore innovative new technologies that will improve our service."

Kier, the council's highway contractor, will carry out the work

Mr Larratt continued: "We will continue to keep residents informed on the progress of works with the hope that once works have concluded there will be a visible difference.”

The council added that it had already spent £2.8m on new machinery to make road maintenance more efficient.