We’re investing in what you care about. You told us that fixing the city’s roads was one of your top priorities. In response to this, we have spent over £135m on road, footpath, and drainage maintenance since 2017. This is part of our highway’s investment programme.
As a result, the number of 'poor' roads in our network has fallen. It dropped from 25% to 13% over the last 6 years.
In 2023, we resurfaced about 59km of road. We also repaired over 15,000 potholes. Learn more about the 2022/24 schemes delivered.
We have cut the backlog of repairs needed. It was more than 10,000 a few years ago. Now it is less than 1,000. Report a pothole.
This funding over the last few years has made a big difference. It allowed us to make a strategy for long-term maintenance. The planning of assets is set out in our asset management strategy.
In particular:
- Highway Maintenance - We've taken a 'prevention is better than cure' approach.
- Drainage – We've improved the network by improving the accuracy of our asset records. We also have a better understanding of the risk from flooding.
- Street Lighting – We'll reduce our carbon footprint. We'll get rid of the need for regular bulk lamp replacement.
The investment has helped deliver the ‘Our Manchester’ strategy. Manchester is a great place to live, and now has more walking and cycling routes. This matches the goals in the Greater Manchester Transport Strategy 2040.
We plan to do about £23m of planned works in 2024/25. Footways are a priority along with local neighbourhood roads. Learn more about the 2024/25 proposed schemes for delivery.
Network North Funding
In October 2023, the Government announced it would provide an extra £8.3 billion for highway maintenance. From this funding, Manchester has been given £602,000 for 2023/24 and £602,000 for 2024/25. This money adds to our overall investment.
We plan to spend this money to make journeys safer and improve footway safety.
These plans are subject to confirmation. More details on specific roads and schemes will come soon.
The following lists show how we propose to spend these funds:
2023/24 work:
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Brooklands – Carriageway resurfacing. Estimated £47,000, 1860m2 area.
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Chorlton Park / Didsbury West - Carriageway resurfacing. Estimated £455,000, 9847m2 area.
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Clayton and Openshaw - Carriageway resurfacing. Estimated £28,000, 1117m2 area.
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Whalley Range - Carriageway resurfacing. Estimated £64,000, 2809m2 area.
2024/25 work planned:
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Ardwick - Carriageway resurfacing. Estimated £141,000, 4878m2 area.
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Cheetham - Carriageway resurfacing. Estimated £195,000, 6740m2 area.
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Deansgate - Carriageway resurfacing. Estimated £47,000, 1636m2 area.
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Burnage - Footway resurfacing. Estimated £85,000, 1139m2 area.
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Crumpsall - Footway resurfacing. Estimated £108,000, 1439m2 area.
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Whalley Range - Footway resurfacing. Estimated £32,000, 429m2 area.
Innovation
We're always exploring new ways to maintain highways. These include:
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Use of cold recycled bound materials. This takes old road surface material and recycles it for use in new materials. In 2022/23, we recycled about 40,000 tonnes of material into the road network.
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We use Artificial Intelligence to gather data on our road conditions.
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We've used a jet patching machine a lot for defect repairs. It's a fast and cost-effective method.
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We have used thermal road repair technology more and more to fix road defects. It recycles 100% of the existing surfacing in place to provide about 90% of the repair material. Reduced plant and labour needs also help. A typical repair cuts emissions by up to 85% compared to traditional repairs.