Leeds potholes: £73m funding pledged to fix 'backlog of maintenance' on West Yorkshire roads

Further improvements to walking and cycling, as well as pedestrian safety, are also covered in the plans to help revamp the region’s roads over the next two years. The funding was allocated via the Government’s City Regions Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS), which West Yorkshire unlocked when it became a Mayoral Authority in 2021.

As part of the works, more than £67 million will go towards resurfacing 970 roads and 245 pavements across West Yorkshire – as the Combined Authority continues work towards improved road surfacing to minimise the risk of future potholes.

Over £17 million has been pledged to Leeds alone, with a further £11 million pledged to Wakefield and over £14 million to Bradford. An extra £6.5 million will also be spent from the Department for Transport’s pothole fund to tackle some of the most urgent pothole problems.

Coun Helen Hayden, Leeds City Council’s executive member for sustainable development and infrastructure, said: “We welcome the announcement of this funding for maintenance of our highways in Leeds. Whilst Leeds City Council has invested heavily in highways maintenance for many years, Leeds faces a maintenance backlog on our road network.

“We are also pleased to see funding being approved for road safety, supporting our West Yorkshire Vision Zero Strategy to eliminate people being killed or seriously injured on our roads by 2040.”

Money from the CRSTS will also go towards hundreds more works to improve drainage, structures and street furniture. Millions more from the scheme will be spent on various walking and cycling infrastructure to boost active travel.

Another £4.4 million will go towards measures to increase safety on West Yorkshire’s roads, including traffic calming, pedestrian and cycle facilities, speed limit reductions and parking management. The money for the schemes will be distributed between West Yorkshire’s five local authority areas. A decision is expected to be made at the forthcoming West Yorkshire Combined Authority meeting on Thursday, July 27.

The papers for the next meeting are online now and are available to read.