Get the low-down on Hampshire’s roads

The condition of the roads across Hampshire is very important to people who live and work here, and is something we get a lot of questions about. Looking after Hampshire’s roads is a priority for us and here we answer some of your most frequently asked questions.

Why do we have potholes in Hampshire?  Tim, Highways Manager, New Forest: There are potholes all across the country, and Hampshire is no worse than anywhere else. Increased numbers of potholes are the consequence of increasing levels of traffic and wetter, colder weather.

Potholes happen when the road surface breaks up. They develop very quickly and it is impossible to predict where they’ll appear. Edge defects are different from potholes – they’re caused by vehicles driving over the edge of the road and damaging the surface. The increased use of large vehicles such as 4 x 4 cars is a major factor.

February’s snow and extreme cold weather also took a big toll on the road surfaces, so our Pothole Busters team have been out in force again, using an extra £1 million added to the maintenance budget specifically to tackle potholes. With this money, we have doubled the number of gangs across the county fixing potholes.

Why do you do temporary repairs that don’t last?Richard, Highways Manager, Eastleigh: We often do a temporary repair to ensure that the road is safe until it is due for more permanent repairs as part of our maintenance programme. It’s a bit like having a broken roof tile on your house – you need to make it safe and weathertight straight away. Eventually defects are either repaired permanently or the whole road gets resurfaced.

Why don’t you just resurface all the roads then?Pete, Highways Manager, Fareham: The only way to cut down on new problems emerging is by completely resurfacing, but with 5,280 miles of roads and at a cost of approximately £150,000 per mile, this could prove to be a very expensive option for Hampshire’s taxpayers without more funding from central Government to maintain our roads.

I reported a pothole in my road a week ago and nothing’s been done – why? Dave, Highways Manager, Test Valley: Repairs are put in a priority order and dangerous potholes are always fixed first. We look at many things when assessing a pothole, such as the volume of traffic, the type of road, whereabouts the pothole is, and if the road is due for repair in the near future as part of our annual maintenance.

There were roadworks at the end of my road for two weeks last month, and now you’ve come along and dug the same bit of road up again! Ian, Principal Engineer: Around 60% of the 200,000 roadworks done in Hampshire each year are carried out by other organisations, such as utility companies and developers. The remaining 40% are our works to repair or improve the roads and pavements.

Roadworks are frustrating for everyone, and we do our best to minimise disruption by co-ordinating work where we can.  All roadworks have to be notified to us and we can ask contractors to postpone or bring forward work. We also work hard to get contractors to reduce the time taken to carry out works, and to share trenches and road closures wherever possible. Between January and April over 30 days of potential disruption were saved by contractors sharing trenches and road closures or by working extra hours in order to complete works early.

However, there are some works we can do little about as most utility works are repairs to broken pipes and cables, or emergency works to stop a potentially dangerous gas leak. Co-ordination of these works is difficult – the repairs are needed quickly and in a specific location. It would be unfair of us to ask a resident to wait for their water to be reconnected whilst we wait for other works in the same area.

I’ve seen the council cutting back weeds on the roadside. Doesn’t this affect the wildlife living there?Megan, Senior Ecologist: No – the only weeds we treat are those on the road itself. If these were left untreated, they could break up the structure of the road, and potentially interfere with drainage.  We have worked with Hampshire Wildlife Trust since the mid 1980s to identify, preserve and protect road verges with high biodiversity, and we also make sure utilities and other companies who may need to work on the roads know about them.

Report a pothole

You can help keep your roads safe by reporting any problems, either by calling 0845 603 5633 or by filling out an online form on our highways web pages.