A Cumbrian council has earmarked £32 million to fix the roads it is responsible for this spring.
Westmorland & Furness Council is responsible for maintaining 2,600 miles of adopted roads across the area – the equivalent distance of London to the North Pole.
It said its highways teams had begun their annual programme to fix the ‘ravages of winter’ on the roads.
The authority added: “Repairs can only be carried out when weather conditions start to improve and April is the earliest the highways crews can get out on the road network to remedy the worst effects of winter.
“A combination of wet and freezing weather in the winter opens up any cracks formed over the previous months and creates potholes that expand and break down further as traffic passes over.”
Last year, it said, its teams fixed around 25,000 potholes, plus carried out full resurfacing schemes and surface dressing to extend the life of some roads.
It said work had also begun to remark and reline roads where lines and markings had become worn and faded.
Other vital upgrades, repairs and maintenance will be carried out on bridges and structures, pavements, public rights of way, drainage, streetlighting and traffic signals.
Westmorland & Furness Council underlined that the cash used to repair the roads was not from council tax, but from cash allocated by the Department for Transport.
The Government has this year allocated Westmorland and Furness a baseline capital grant of £23.4 million, determined on the length of the Westmorland and Furness road network, condition, traffic volumes and number of bridges and structures.
A further £8.6 million has been allocated to Westmorland and Furness specifically to repair roads and tackle potholes.
