The county council has announced savings of £14 million on a long-term project to fix the country’s roads less than a month after a coroner concluded a cyclist died after hitting an unrepaired pothole in Weybridge.
Surrey County Council has driven down the cost of Operation Horizon, which was previously costed at £100 million, by striking better deals with contractors and improved recycling of materials, a spokesman stated.
Pic credit: Surrey County Council
By the end of this financial year another £2.5 million of savings will be made, taking the total to almost £13.9 million.
Savings will also be made to the taxpayer through the council paying out for repairs less frequently, the spokesman confirmed.
From March: Coroner to make report to council on pothole classifications after death of cyclist
The announcement comes after assistant coroner to Surrey, Christopher Sutton Mattocks, vowed to file a report on “road defects” to Surrey County Council at the inquest of cyclist Ralph Brazier (pictured above), who died in a crash last March.
From March 2016: Cyclist who died after Weybridge crash named as Twickenham Cycling Club member Ralph Brazier, 52
Woking Coroner’s Court court had heard from neighbours how the hole that Mr Brazier rode into, and which threw him “violently forwards” had gradually become worse over, and by January 2016 it had completely deteriorated.
Temporary repairs were carried out in January and February, with a permanent repair scheduled for March 2 – the day after Mr Brazier died.
From February: 'Shoddy' county council repair work on pothole contributed to death of 'experienced' cyclist
From February: Pothole that caused death of cyclist was in a 'high risk location and should have been seen urgently'
James Taylor, who produced a report for council contractors Kier after the accident, insisted it was in a “high risk location and should have been seen urgently”.
The county council embarked upon a long-term project to fix potholes in Surrey’s roads in 2013, and it is set to conclude in 2021.
About 250 miles of roads have been improved through the scheme so far.
Surrey County Council Cabinet Member for Highways John Furey said: “Surrey has some of the busiest roads in the country and Operation Horizon is another example of just how hard we work to improve them for residents and businesses despite rising demand for services making money really tight.
“Not only have we overhauled 250 miles of roads – that’s nearly the distance from Guildford to Hull by car – but over the five years of the first phase of the project almost 30 miles will be resurfaced for free.”
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