February 18, 2011 5.16 pm This story is over 156 months old

Lincolnshire roads among best in UK

Fancy that: Figures show Lincolnshire has some of the best roads in the country, despite potholes left by a bitter winter.

Roads in Lincolnshire and the East Midlands were named as the best in the country, according to figures released by the Department for Transport (DfT).

The figures for the end of 2010 also show the condition of England’s roads has deteriorated slightly, with around 6% of the network is in poor condition.

The DfT figures covered local authority roads, comparing road conditions with those in 2006/07 when the condition “score” was set to 100.

Lincolnshire roads scored 114 for 2008/2009, while in 2009/2010 they shot up to 120 for the county’s A roads.

A roads are in better condition than B roads and minor routes, the figures from the DfT showed, with Lincolnshire’s share marked at 104.

The Lincolnshire County Council will have £2.7 million extra to spend on roads this year from the increase in the tax base in 2011.

An additional £2.5 million will come from the government settlement grant, which will be used to fix the potholes plaguing county roads after a bitter winter.

County Councillor William Webb, Executive Member for Highways, said: “Lincolnshire has many rural roads and is also huge – our highways north division alone look after an area the size of Bedfordshire!

“Consequently, we have a number of challenges in keeping our roads well maintained and are proud of our high standards in repairing and improving the highway network.

“The worst weather conditions for a century hit many areas hard last year, including Lincolnshire, so as we strive to tackle the effects on the roads, this news is timely recognition of our efforts.”

In 2009/10 the East Midlands had roads in the best condition followed by London and the North East.

In 2009/10, English local authorities spent £3.2 billion on the maintenance of local roads, while the Highways Agency spent £900 million on the maintenance of motorways and major trunk roads in England.