New Pothole Pro will help bring about highways improvements

Highways crews in Staffordshire have taken delivery of their latest machine to help in the fight against potholes, a second JCB Pothole Pro.

The machine joins Staffordshire County Council’s existing Pothole Pro, and will be used for reactive maintenance up and down the county.

This means it will be responding defects reported to the county council by residents through their ReportIt website.

Both machines will be working hard across the next few months to fix defects and create smoother journeys for local people.

Crews have already fixed 9,566 potholes over the past few months, with works ramping up as the summer holidays kick in and the roads are quieter.

Added to this, more than 260 roads have already had a preventative surface treatment to help them last longer, and a number of major resurfacing schemes have already been completed.

Peter Mason, Staffordshire County Council Cabinet Member for Strategic Highways said the new machine was the perfect addition to Staffordshire’s fleet.

He said:

“This latest Pothole Pro joins our existing machine, and will be working its way across the county to make a difference to local communities. It is an important addition to our fleet of vehicles that will help tackle defects across the county.“The Pothole Pro is a fantastic piece of kit that helps repair potholes quickly and efficiently, and our ambition is to make the most of this new machine so our communities can really see the difference it makes to their roads.”

JCB General Manager Ben Rawding said:

“We are delighted that an investment has been made in a second JCB Pothole Pro, particularly as the first machine helped Staffordshire County Council fix more potholes last year than in each of the previous four years.”

Speaking about his wider vision for highways in Staffordshire, Peter Mason said:

“Since taking on the role of Cabinet Member for Highways, I’ve been looking into how the highways operation at the county council, listening to our residents, and seeing what we can do better.“We want to make sure the money we have is working as hard as it can, which means ensuring the work we do is as efficient as possible. We are already working on plans to change our approach as to how we carry out elements of highway works to deliver better outcomes. I also want to communicate more with residents about why we are doing the things we do, and not just what. This should already be becoming evident in the communications we are making.“We also recognise that the funding for our roads needs to be higher, so I’m committed to holding government to account to ensure we get the funding we need to improve our roads and keep them in a good condition.“I believe by concentrating on these elements and getting the basics right, residents will be able to see the difference going forward and feel the positive impact improved roads have on their communities.”