Getting Shropshire's Roads Fixed

FIXING OUR ROADS – A LIB DEM PRIORITY

Fixing our roads was made a priority by the Liberal Democrats when they took control of Shropshire Council in May 2025. As well as the the thousands of potholes being repaired, Lib Dem-run Shropshire Council have embarked on a road maintenance programme that will resurface or strengthen 162 stretches of road. Here's an in-depth look at how the Lib Dems are tackling Shropshire's long-neglected roads.

30,000 POTHOLES REPAIRED AND EXTRA TEAMS BROUGHT IN

30,000 pot holes were filled in during the first 12 months of the Lib Dems taking control of Shropshire Council. An extra pothole repair team was brought in straightaway and an additional three pothole teams were brought in following the Winter surge in potholes. As a result, Shropshire Council repaired more potholes in March than in any month during the past four years.

WINTER POTHOLE SURGE

Winter always sees an increase in potholes due to the freeze-thaw cycle. However, this past Winter saw a surge in potholes across Britain. It was caused by a combination of very wet weather followed immediately by freezing temperatures. Water always seeps into tiny cracks in the road. However, if freezing temperatures occur straight after wet weather the water doesn't have time to dry out. Instead, the water in the cracks freezes and expands causing roads to break up even more than usual. In Shropshire we saw the number of potholes nearly double compared to the previous Winter.

3,200 MILES OF ROADS

Shropshire faces a bigger challenge than most other areas. Our county has one of the largest road networks in England, with 3,200 miles of roads. That’s the distance between Shrewsbury and New York!

PREVIOUS UNDERINVESTMENT BUT BIG PLANS AHEAD

The situation in Shropshire was made worse by 15 years of underinvestment by the Conservatives, who were running the council until May 2025. Instead of investing properly in road maintenance each year, they wasted millions on consultants and on planning a controversial bypass that they could never afford to build. This long-term lack of maintenance resulted in even more potholes. However, the Lib Dems have plans to turn things around.

RESURFACING WORK UNDERWAY

Already started is an ambitious plan to completely resurface 90 stretches of road across Shropshire over the coming months. Resurfacing involves using heavy machinery to first strip away the entire top layer of the road’s surface. Once the top layer is stripped away, a new layer of asphalt or tarmac several centimetres thick is overlaid. As well as providing a new smooth layer to drive and cycle on comfortably, resurfacing seals the road to stop water ingress, preventing freeze-thaw damage. Resurfacing is the long term solution for stretches of road that have suffered deep damage and are already crumbling.

ROAD SEALING AND STRENGTHENING

In addition to the resurfacing programme, Shropshire Council has embarked on a programme of surface dressing for a further 72 stretches of road. Surface dressing seals roads to stop water entering and ice forming, which reduces the chance of potholes forming. Surface dressing also adds a bitumen binder with stone chippings, which strengthens the road surface and improves skid resistance. The whole process can extend the life of a road by up to 15 years.

WHY ARE WE FIXING ROADS THAT SEEM OK?

Prevention is better than cure. And a lot less expensive too. Surface dressing is all about preventing more potholes from forming. If more surface dressing is carried out during the drier months, we’ll see fewer potholes forming next Winter and in the Winters that follow. However, surface dressing can only be carried out on roads that are not yet crumbling. That’s why it sometimes looks like we’re fixing roads that don’t need fixing. Surface dressing also makes much better use of Council Tax-payers money as it’s a lot cheaper than having to carry out costly resurfacing work after roads are left to crumble.

CRACKING DOWN ON POOR REPAIRS

When the Lib Dems were in opposition in Shropshire, we repeatedly raised concerns about the quality of road repairs. We knew that many of the potholes repaired by contractors were of a poor standard and only lasted a few months. This was despite contractors being paid the full amount to carry out high-quality repairs. Now in control of Shropshire Council, the Lib Dems are ramping up inspections of completed road repairs. If repairs carried out by contractors are not up to standard, we will insist the work is redone by the contractor at no extra cost to Council Tax-payers. Some temporary pothole repairs will still be needed for dangerous potholes that need urgent repairs.

MANAGING CONTRACTORS

Managing road repair contracts is one of the ways the Lib Dems will get more roads fixed with the limited money available. To this end, the council is now using a more reliable company to fix our potholes. They have teams based in Shropshire and provide better quality repairs at a lower price. And council inspectors will ensure the quality of their work stays high.

COMPENSATION PAYOUTS

The Lib Dems are also concerned about the amount the council has had to pay out in compensation in the past as a result of potholes. A study by the BBC found that Shropshire Council had paid out £1,033,236 in pothole compensation claims between April 2020 and March 2025, when the council was run by the Conservatives. The Liberal Democrats are determined to get that figure down, so that more money can be spent on fixing the county's roads instead of paying out for claims.

DOING YOUR BIT

Although there is still a long list of potholes waiting to be repaired, it’s important that residents help by reporting them, especially new ones that appear. The way to do this is online via the council’s Fix My Street website, which you can find here.

GETTING THERE

It's going to take time before we can make up for years of road neglect and get all those potholes fixed, but we are definitely getting there.