Potholes: More than 90,000 road defects repaired in a year

The Department for Infrastructure (DfI) has repaired more than 90,000 road surface defects across Northern Ireland in a year.

That number includes potholes, cracking and depressions repaired from 1 November 2020 to 31 October 2021.

In total there were 109,641 defects reported, with 16,177 not listed as repaired across council areas.

The figures came in response to a written question at Stormont from UUP MLA for East Belfast Andy Allen.

A Department for Infrastructure spokesperson said the minister, Nichola Mallon, would continue to work across all council areas to improve the condition of the road network however she was "constrained by the level of funding available".

"All roads are inspected on a regular basis and all defects which meet the department's current intervention levels are recorded and prioritised for repair," they added.

DfI Roads is responsible for the maintenance of over 25,000km of public roads together with about 9,700km of footways, 5,800 bridges, 290,000 street lights and 367 public car parks.

It also has responsibility for the development of the transport network and a range of transport projects designed to improve network safety, sustainability and efficiency.

Figures showed that 17,118 defects had been reported in Newry, Mourne and Down council area with 15,823 repairs taking place.

In Mid Ulster council area 12,976 reports had been made with 12,600 being repaired.

Fermanagh and Omagh had 11,442 reports and 7,541 fixed in the time period.

Mr Allen said his constituents had been in touch to to raise concerns about delays in potholes or paving/road defects being repaired as well as the quality of the maintenance carried out.

He has also tabled another question in relation to how many repairs have had to be "repeated" or carried out in the same location a number of times in previous years.

He said maintaining roads and footpaths was an "essential function" of the DfI and is a service that should be delivered in a "timely and effective manner".

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Sinn Féin assembly member for for South Down, Sinéad Ennis, also raised the issue of the state of roads in her constituency on Monday.

Speaking in the NI Assembly, she said there was a "crisis" in the road network and a "myriad of potholes".

Last month, the Impartial Reporter reported on a "crater-like" pothole in County Fermanagh.

It was believed to be 6ft (1.8m) deep.

The DfI told the paper that the hole is a culvert, a tunnel carrying a stream or open drain under a road.

The DfI said the opening 2021/22 structural maintenance capital budget is £80m for Northern Ireland.

This includes £17m for the road recovery fund with £15m of this allocated to rural roads, which is a 50% increase on last year.

"Significant programmes of work have been delivered across all areas in 2021/22, in particular on rural roads," the spokesperson added.