An extra £22m will be made available to Norfolk County Council to spend on the upkeep of the county’s roads.
The council is set to receive £22.3m from the Department for Transport, a higher sum than that given to any other local authority in the east of England.
Work to decide exactly how and where the money will be spent most effectively will begin soon, but the funds will be used to repair and maintain roads, bridges, pavements and cycle paths, as well as to improve drainage on some streets.
Martin Wilby, cabinet member for highways and infrastructure on Norfolk County Council, said: “We can get a great deal done with this funding allocation, from repairing potholes to replacing surfaces that are showing signs of wear and tear and weather damage.
“While there’s been a lot less travelling for most of us recently, we always need good transport networks, for example to help emergency services, health and care workers and other key workers get where they need to go.
“Highways maintenance never stops just like many of these vital services.”
The funding will be added to the county council’s existing highways capital maintenance budget of £38.6m to be spent before the end of March 2021.
In 2018/19, the council fixed 7,741 pot holes, up from 5,861 the previous year.
It has previously put that increase down to the Beast from the East, which brought wintry conditions in February and March 2018 and led to more potholes across the country. In response, the government gave the authority more than £16m to make repairs.
On Friday, it announced that highways works across Norfolk would resume, with all non-urgent schemes having been suspended in late March because of public health advice around coronavirus.
The council says it expects to receive the funding from the Department for Transport’s Pothole and Challenge Fund in the next few weeks.
Suffolk County Council has been given £15.6m, while the east of England as a whole has been given £88.6m.
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