Somerset Council is planning to spend up to £5 million over the next three years to smarten up roads, pavements and cycleways across the county.

The move comes as the authority continues to prioritise safety-critical repairs, including potholes, but acknowledges that lower-priority issues such as faded road markings, broken signs and overgrown hedges have often been left unresolved for years.

Under the new proposals, the council will deliver a programme of visible improvements including:

• Clearing more drains and gullies

• Fixing and cleaning road signs

• Repainting faded road markings

• Collecting litter

• Cutting back overgrown vegetation, particularly near walking and cycling routes

advertisement

The council will also improve its public reporting system to make it easier for residents to highlight problems on local roads.

Cllr Bill Revans, Leader of Somerset Council, said: "As a listening council we know the public want us to do much more than simply keep our roads safe, and we want to see improvements across our council area.

"We will continue to prioritise pothole repairs and are working hard to clear the backlog caused by the many weeks of wet weather and flooding we have experienced this winter. We plan to allocate additional funds to tackle the backlog of potholes if we need to."

He added that, with next year's budget proposals due before Full Council next week, the authority can now bring forward plans to increase spending on additional drain and gully clearance, improve signage and lining on A and B roads, ensure cycle lanes are clear of overgrowth and enhance the reporting system.

Surge in road defect reports

Since the start of the year, Somerset Council has received 16,332 reports about defects on the roads, compared to 4,417 for the same period last year.

In response, the council says it has more than doubled the number of teams dealing with road damage, deploying extra equipment and using alternative materials to speed up repairs. As of 20 February, 4,577 potholes had been fixed by 35 teams dedicated to the work.

£2 million has already been identified from uncommitted funds, with the remaining balance to be identified over the coming year.

Residents can report problems online via the council's "report a problem on the road" page. Depending on severity, defects are fixed within two hours, 24 hours, seven days or 28 days for non-emergency repairs.

More local stories

• From discounted landscape drawings to guided writing time, Wells has creativity covered this week
• Shepton Mallet doll signed by Coldplay to raise cash for air ambulance
• MP blasts £695 water bills as 'disgraceful'

Sign up to your nearest Nub News newsletter | Wells | Shepton Mallet | Glastonbury — Get the top stories from across the area every Friday.