Bid for £5m investment to prepare roads for winter

A proposal to invest £5m in preparing a county's roads for winter is set to go before a council.

Cambridgeshire County Council said if approved, it would deliver 30km (18.6 miles) of preventative road maintenance across the county in readiness for colder, wetter weather.

It said the money would be used to invest in resurfacing, road patching and sealing cracks on roads.

A decision is expected to be made by the council's highways and transport committee on 28 July.

The council previously said it had an £800m road maintenance backlog because of "decades of underfunding".

It has allocated more than £78m in highways maintenance for 2026-2027, with £31.3m of that funded by central government.

The proposal includes spending £2.8m on mastic screed for resurfacing, £800,000 on preventative patching to fix defective roads, £700,000 on deeper structural patching, and £10,000 on a pothole innovation trial.

There would also be additional maintenance on a number of roads, including the A1307 Hills Road in Cambridge, the A142 Ely Road in Soham and the A605 in Elton.

The council said the programme of works would run from August 2026 to March 2027 if the proposal is approved.

"By acting now, before winter hits, we can protect our roads and make journeys better for everyone," said Robin Wyatt, the Liberal Democrat vice-chair of the highways and transport committee.

"Residents have been clear that improving the condition of our roads is a priority and we hope this proposal for further investment shows we are listening to people's concerns and learning from previous years."

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