Potholes: here are all the roads in Lancaster and Morecambe to be resurfaced this year

The Lancashire-wide list is more than 40 percent longer than the equivalent job sheet last year after cash injections from both Lancashire County Council and the government added a combined £27.3m to the amount that would otherwise have been available.

The total number of roads that will be repaired is dozens greater than the project tally, because several of the schemes involve work on more than one route.

The pre-planned upgrades are in addition to the day-to-day repairs that will be undertaken as and when individual defects - like individual potholes - occur during the course of the year.

The projects cover only the county council area, with Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen councils each having their own highways plans.

As in previous years, the works are a combination of full resurfacing and so-called ‘surface dressing’, a special process that not only improves the condition of carriageways, but seals them to prevent future damage caused by water entering cracks in the road.

County Hall’s highways maintenance budget for 2025/26 amounts to £61.8m. That includes £15m taken from the extra £45m the authority allocated to Lancashire’s roads over the next three years at its budget last week, plus £12.3m announced by the government in December as part of a nationwide funding boost.

Overall, £19.7m from the total cash pot has been earmarked for pre-determined works to both roads and footpaths, while £27.9m is reserved for the “reactive” maintenance needed to deal with defects which appear unexpectedly.

As the county council fixes all potholes that are more than 40mm deep, that aspect of its highways budget will be dictated by demand - and so could end up being larger than currently anticipated, requiring some of the other planned works to be "deprioritized" and rolled into future years.

The remainder of the money will be used to cover the cost of repairs to bridges and other structures (£6.6m), drainage issues (£1.8m) and the replacement of streetlamps (£4.6m) and traffic lights (£572k).

The Lancaster district is line for the greatest number of pre-planned road repairs, with 16 schemes in total, compared to six in each of Chorley and Hyndburn, which will see the fewest.

Conservative cabinet member for highways and transport Rupert Swarbrick told the cabinet meeting at which the funding allocations were approved that he understood why some councillors may be unhappy that they did not have a particular scheme planned for a road in their area.

However, he stressed that the repair programme was “driven by the data”, meaning the authority was not “open to be[ing] lobbied” on the subject.

County Cllr Swarbrick also reminded members that there had been cross-party support for the authority’s transport asset management plan which was brought in under a Labour administration a decade ago and set out a 15-year set of priorities for road maintenance, designed to improve the overall condition of the county’s roads. That policy is about to enter its third and final phase, details of which have yet to be published.

Labour opposition group leader Matthew Tomlinson acknowledged his group’s backing of the plan, but echoed the sentiment that it may lead to "frustrations" over certain roads amongst some members. He also emphasised the government’s contribution to the bolstered budget for Lancashire's highways this year - but welcomed the county council’s investment as well.

Cabinet members were also presented with a list of a further 41 resurfacing schemes that have been costed, but for which funding has not yet been set aside.

Deputy county council leader Alan Vincent said he would consider bringing forward a greater share of the authority's extra £45m-over-three years than the £15m so far allocated, in order to take advantage of “opportunities to accelerate” work where it was both possible and "financially sensible” to do so.

In a statement after the meeting, County Cllr Swarbrick said of the highways maintenance programme: "This significant investment reaffirms our commitment to ensuring that Lancashire's roads – which support more than 4.6 million journeys every day – are safe, reliable, and fit for purpose for everyone.

"Improving our roads is our number one priority - that's why we're committing £45m over the next three years on top of our 2025/26 allocation from the Department for Transport.

"This funding will allow us to plan and execute more comprehensive improvements, addressing both immediate repairs and proactive maintenance.

"I would like to thank residents in advance for their continued support and patience while we roll out this ambitious maintenance programme.

"We will continue to carry out reactive repairs alongside these schemes and you can help us more effectively prioritise our work by reporting faults via our website."

WHICH ROADS ARE BEING RESURFACED?

This is a breakdown of all the planned projects for the Lancaster City Council district in the format: road name - county council division - nature of work

Lancashire County Council says the list is subject to change if budgets or circumstances demand it.

A6 Preston Lancaster Road - Lancaster South East - resurfacing A6/Salford Road/Stoney Lane junction and A6/Hazelrigg Lane junction

A6 Preston Lancaster Road - Lancaster South East - surface dressing of six sections from the M6 junction 33 roundabout to the A588 Ashton Road roundabout

A589 Lancaster Road - Morecambe South - resurfacing of Torrisholme roundabout (shrimp roundabout)

B5321 Torrisholme Road - Skerton - resurfacing from Barley Cop Lane to roundabout at West Drive

Cedar Road - Lancaster Central - resurfacing full length

Eastgate - Morecambe South - resurfacing from Middlegate to Northgate

Hawarden Avenue - Morecambe South - resurfacing full length

Kingsway - Heysham - resurfacing from Sugham Lane to Heysham Mossgate Road

Lentworth Drive - r Lancaster South - resurfacing from Hala Road to Barton Road

Middlegate - Morecambe - resurfacing from unit 15 to end of road

Rochester Avenue - Morecambe South - resurfacing full length

Stoney Lane - Lancaster Rural East - resurfacing from junction with Main Street, eastwards to house no. 23

Tibicar Drive East - Heysham - resurfacing from Oxcliffe Road to Rylstone Drive

Westcliffe Drive - Morecambe South - surface dressing from Oxcliffe Road to Westgate

Westminster Road/Westminster Avenue - Morecambe Central - surface dressing from Fairfield Road to Regent Road and from Regent Road to Balmoral Road

Whitegate - Morecambe South - resurfacing from Northgate to end of road

Source: Lancashire County Council